11 hours Ago
With the Boston Celtics trending toward a teardown due to a multitude of reasons, the Brooklyn Nets could swoop in and take advantage. Brooklyn Nets on SI recently published a piece tabbing Jrue Holiday as a potential target, but Bleacher Report has opted for a more unrealistic—and ironic—hypothetical pairing. On Saturday, Andy Bailey proposed a blockbuster deal: sending Jaylen Brown to Brooklyn to help Boston get under the second apron in a trade sending multiple valuable assets to the Celtics in exchange for last season's Finals MVP.
The mock-trade's structure is written as follows: Jaylen Brown for Cam Thomas (sign-and-trade), Noah Clowney, the No. 8 pick in 2025, a 2027 first-round pick (via Philadelphia) and a top-5 protected 2031 first-round pick. GM Sean Marks gives up the team's top offensive weapon in Thomas, a high-ceiling forward in Clowney, the eighth pick in this year's draft as well as two future firsts.
That's quite a haul for a player of Brown's caliber, especially when his overall ranking among his peers is often heavily debated. The Nets would have to build next season's roster around Brown—possibly by attempting to add another superstar—but this proposal is too ironic not to mention the history between Brown and Brooklyn. Brown was selected third overall back in 2016—in a draft that was held at the Barclays Center, go figure—with the second conveyed pick in the infamous Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett-Jason Terry trade.
In that debacle of a transaction Boston also netted Jayson Tatum, eventually forming a championship-level duo en route to the franchise's 18th title. It would be almost poetic to see Brown suit up in a Nets uniform, and the teardown of the Celtcis' roster may give Brooklyn fans more glee than the actual landing of Brown. Giving up Thomas, Clowney and the eighth pick is certainly an expensive package, and would force Marks to overhaul the roster for a second-straight season—just in a different fashion.
Other trades/signings would have to follow, especially given marks' comments saying he'd only pull off a blockbuster move if it cemented Brooklyn as contenders in the Eastern Conference. This move—while quite unrealistic—would undoubtedly shake the NBA's landscape..
