NBA Rumors: The team that could have Jaylen Brown as a superstar in their rebuilding process

Is this the end of the Boston Celtics as we know them? After their humiliating six-game defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks, they must decide how to move forward in the future. 

The extensions for the 2025-26 season will leave the Celtics with a crazy salary structure, with four players above $30 million and another at $28 million in the second apron. This is not sustainable. Additionally, it is likely that Jayson Tatum will miss the entire next season, so they are not expected to be true contenders. 

They will have to get rid of big salaries, and there is nothing bigger than the $53.1 million that Jaylen Brown will make, with an average of $61 million per year for three more seasons after next year. 

With that, we have a wild trade idea shared by Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report that would send Brown to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets would receive Jaylen Brown, while the Celtics would acquire Cam Thomas (sign-and-trade), Noah Clowney, the 8th pick of the NBA Draft, the 2025 first-round pick, the 2027 first-round pick (via Philadelphia), and the 2031 first-round pick (top-5 protected).

Celtics and Nets' Interests

The Celtics get under the second apron with this deal, and as Bailey points out, that would allow them to add outgoing salaries in other deals. As for the return, they get a ton of strong draft capital to keep the team strong in the future. 

For what it's worth, Cam Thomas can offset many of the points they would lose with Brown's trade since he has become an elite scorer, averaging 24 points per game last season, although he only played 25 games due to an injury. However, the year before, he averaged 22.5 points per game in 66 games. 

Clowney was a first-round pick in 2023, and the 6'10 big man started contributing some significant minutes and production this season, averaging 9.1 points in 22.7 minutes per night. He's worth a look, at least.

As for the Nets, it is the big superstar they have been yearning for since they lost Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in forced trades two years ago. And if they somehow manage to retain Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton (both have been the subject of many trade rumors), they would form a good complementary trio with Brown and potentially become instant contenders. 

What makes this proposal even more intriguing is the fact that we recently learned that the Celtics offered Brown to the Nets in a big deal in 2022, but Brooklyn turned it down. This time, it could be harder for Brooklyn to reject an offer like this. 

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