Would you trade Jaylen+ for Durant?

Would you trade Jaylen+ for Durant?

  • Yes

    Votes: 123 26.3%
  • No

    Votes: 285 60.9%
  • Not Sure - this is all moving too fast for me!

    Votes: 60 12.8%

  • Total voters
    468

Jimbodandy

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I think there is a good case the Nets want more than the Celtics are giving.
Salary isn't a major concern unless people are real torn up about adding Theis.

I will say though, sure Durant may want out in 2 years... but Jaylen can walk for nothing in 2 years. He 100% isn't signing an extension for financial reasons, so there is actually a much higher chance of losing Jaylen for nothing in 2 years, where Durant you can recoup assets with 2 years left on his deal if he wants out.
Your first paragraph is what I meant. You said it better. Brooklyn will demand more than JB, Theis and a first. It will be JB plus Marcus or White plus all of the picks.

Yes, JB can leave, but KD is a flake and a huge star. He's averaging 2.5 years per chosen destination lately.

Edit: covers response to Ed too
 

Auger34

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I voted no.

The Celtics just made the Finals. Durants a great player but he’s 34 years old, a massive headache, and honestly tough to root for. After the Kyrie experience, I’d prefer to not have to deal sticking up for and rooting for someone like KD
 

djbayko

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No.

I honestly just don't like him very much. He was perfect on a team with Kyrie. I don't want any risk of drama around this young team that has a ton of chemistry. Also, he's aging, so we'll be aiming for a tight championship window. If shit goes wrong during that window, all of that capital is wasted. Meanwhile, we have a very bright future without him.

If Brad trades for KD, my attitude will quickly change, and I'll be rooting for put towel 18 in roof. But I personally don't need him on the C's right now.
 
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ilol@u

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Yes in a cocaine heartbeat.
As seen in the playoffs, Jaylen is not a consistent guy. He will go on a brutal ISO run, dribble into traffic, miss crucial free throws, throw terrible passes, and try to play hero-ball.
Durant is a top 3 player in the NBA when healthy.

Tatum, Durant, and 3 bums from the playground would win a championship.
 

radsoxfan

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I lean no.

This is a 50-60 win team with 2 young superstars that just made the NBA finals. I think the default should be building on this core.

The only caveat is if Brad thinks Jaylen going to leave in 2 years for some reason. In that case, the Celtics are better off the next 2 seasons with KD and you worry about the future later.
 

Mooch

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Durant is better now and likely is better than Jaylen Brown will ever be. Unless you think Brown has a chance to level up again and stay there, you do it if you value winning.
Even a declining (say 90%) KD is better than Jaylen. Guys, this is a no-brainer for me. Give this team another two year window as the favorites to win the title. Chances like this don’t come along often.
 

m0ckduck

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I haven't seen a lot in these trade proposals (BOS or otherwise) about his evident desire to re-unite with Kyrie after this season. As far as I can understand, he's asking out of Brooklyn because they wouldn't extend Irving. So, what happens next off-season when Irving becomes a free agent? It feels like any team angling to acquire KD needs to be thinking hard about this scenario.
 
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kazuneko

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If you do this the trade it has to be a pretty simple swap, like Jaylen/Theis for Durant. I’m not interested in throwing in a bunch of extra picks and pick swaps to the package (or even any other player that this team needs to win) to destroy the team’s future when it’s not clear that any other contender can offer an equivalent asset. I mean, wouldn’t you rather have Jaylen than a maxed-out (i.e overpaid) Ayton and -as far as I can tell - that’s the 2nd best option.
Durant supposedly is amenable to a Laker trade? For who? Westbrook? No way Brooklyn does that. LeBron? Can’t imagine the Lakers do that. Anthony Davis? Apparently a source close to the situation put the chances at “zero”. So what other contender has a young asset as good as Jaylen? No one, as far as I can tell.
Now maybe Kyrie has shit-talked Boston to the point that Durant would never consider it - but if Jaylen is available- it’s Durant’s single best option for winning a championship while simultaneously being Brooklyn’s best scenario for acquiring the most value.
Durant’s reported plan of being traded together with Kyrie is particularly wild. I mean, Jesus, if that shit worked they wouldn’t need a new team. I also don’t see who goes for that unless they want be part of a sudden rebuild of a lottery team. I mean, maybe Houston could trade all their assets and most their salaries for a chance of reliving Brooklyn’s reality-show culture in H-Town, but it probably wouldn’t be wise..
 

Euclis20

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If you do this the trade it has to be a pretty simple swap, like Jaylen/Theis for Durant. I’m not interested in throwing in a bunch of extra picks and pick swaps to the package (or even any other player that this team needs to win) to destroy the team’s future when it’s not clear that any other contender can offer an equivalent asset. I mean, wouldn’t you rather have Jaylen than a maxed-out (i.e overpaid) Ayton and -as far as I can tell - that’s the 2nd best option.
Durant supposedly is amenable to a Laker trade? For who? Westbrook? No way Brooklyn does that. LeBron? Can’t imagine the Lakers do that. Anthony Davis? Apparently a source close to the situation put the chances at “zero”. So what other contender has a young asset as good as Jaylen? No one, as far as I can tell.
Now maybe Kyrie has shit-talked Boston to the point that Durant would never consider it - but if Jaylen is available- it’s Durant’s single best option for winning a championship while simultaneously being Brooklyn’s best scenario for acquiring the most value.
Durant’s reported plan of being traded together with Kyrie is particularly wild. I mean, Jesus, if that shit worked they wouldn’t need a new team. I also don’t see who goes for that unless they want be part of a sudden rebuild of a lottery team. I mean, maybe Houston could trade all their assets and most their salaries for a chance of reliving Brooklyn’s reality-show culture in H-Town, but it probably wouldn’t be wise..
Phoenix is on the short list and the easy answer is Booker. It sounds like they don't want to part with him, but of course that's what you have to say.
 

lovegtm

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There's somewhat of a mismatch here. There are only a couple players mentioned so far who are ar Jaylen's level, mainly Bam, Zion (adjusted for injury risk) Booker and JJJ.

The idea of dealing one of those guys for Durant is that you are making such a good offer that the "+" in the deal is minimized, and you can keep most of the picks and role players that you need to fill things in.

Jaylen is the only one of those guys with contract uncertainty. Bam, for example, has 4 years left, plenty of time to do real team building. Jaylen has 2 years left--unless he LOVES the idea of Brooklyn, he could demand a trade as early as this deadline.

So then the "+" has to get out of whack relative to those other players, and you are walking a very tight line: have a Durant injury or decline, and Tatum may well walk.

If you think Jaylen is a flight risk, or don't want the risk of his making all NBA and being supermax eligible, then you deal him to his preferred destination, in what would likely be a massive haul on his own.

tldr; Jaylen's contract status makes him less useable as a trade chip than those other guys, and the Celtics will conclude that the best way to get max value from him is on the court, or in a blockbuster to a team he likes.
 

kazuneko

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There's somewhat of a mismatch here. There are only a couple players mentioned so far who are ar Jaylen's level, mainly BamI , Zion (adjusted for injury risk) Booker and JJJ.
The idea of dealing one of those guys for Durant is that you are making such a good offer that the "+" in the deal is minimized, and you can keep most of the picks and role players that you need to fill things in.
Jaylen is the only one of those guys with contract uncertainty. Bam, for example, has 4 years left, plenty of time to do real team building. Jaylen has 2 years left--unless he LOVES the idea of Brooklyn, he could demand a trade as early as this deadline.
While I'd rather have Jaylen than Bam the point you make about the contracts is a good one. With Miami generally being an attractive destination for NBA stars, you could also see how Durant might prefer that route. What would be hilarious is if they'd also take on Kyrie (maybe throwing in Lowry and Herro in addition to Bam), but then Jimmy Butler would almost certainly end up killing him in training camp..lol.
BTW, I really can't see any scenario where Phoenix trades Booker (it would be the equivalent of the Cs offering Tatum) and - at this point- Zion's value has got to be pretty low as the man's slowly slipping into Greg Oden territory. In his 85 game, 3-year career it's not clear that he's shown that his feet can handle the body, or his desire to play outweighs his desire to eat. And while JJJ had a good year last year, he just went under the knife for a stress fracture in his foot, an injury that has not always been easy for big men to bounce back from.
 
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Eddie Jurak

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Even a declining (say 90%) KD is better than Jaylen. Guys, this is a no-brainer for me. Give this team another two year window as the favorites to win the title. Chances like this don’t come along often.
Is you goal a 2-year window then break the team down for parts and picks - including moving Tatum? Or do you see the Celtics going deep into the tax at a level comparable to the highest taxpaying teams?
 

Mooch

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Is you goal a 2-year window then break the team down for parts and picks - including moving Tatum? Or do you see the Celtics going deep into the tax at a level comparable to the highest taxpaying teams?
If you are a title contender, you spend well into the tax. If you’re rebuilding, you’re not. That said, another two years of development for Tatum playing with KD could lure some ring-seeking vets to Boston to the point that the Celtics are a contender, even as Durant declines.
 

Eddie Jurak

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If you are a title contender, you spend well into the tax. If you’re rebuilding, you’re not. That said, another two years of development for Tatum playing with KD could lure some ring-seeking vets to Boston to the point that the Celtics are a contender, even as Durant declines.
This doesn't get at my point, which is basically that they are going to shift from contender to longshot contender and perhaos all the way to non contender during the life of Durant's deal.

Let's say they are contenders during the first 2 years of Durant's deal. And they spend well into the tax (which is necessitated by taking on Durant's salary). Great. Year 3, Durant is 36, he's well off his peak and trending towards worse, but making $50 M for 2 more years. And it is the final year of having Tatum under control (his next year is a player option). If you pony up for Tatum, assuming he's even willing to stay, then you are diving deep into repeater tax territory for a noncontender. The alternative is to blow it up and try to move Tatum (and anything else of value) in a big deal.

Are you confident that Wyc will pay massive amounts of repeater tax for a mediocre to bad team?
 

lexrageorge

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Since his name has been mentioned, obligatory reminder that Bam cannot be traded to the Nets unless Simmons is traded. The same Rose Rule that came up when the rumors abounded that the Celtics were trying to trade for Anthony Davis when Kyrie was here.
 

Silverdude2167

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Since his name has been mentioned, obligatory reminder that Bam cannot be traded to the Nets unless Simmons is traded. The same Rose Rule that came up when the rumors abounded that the Celtics were trying to trade for Anthony Davis when Kyrie was here.
Alright, let's go off the deep end here.

Miami trades for KD includes Bam and the Celtics are the 3rd team that acquires Simmons for like a pick swap.

It will never happen, we probably don't want it to happen, but old Simmons with the Jays is still my wet dream.
 

SinkingLowe

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No.
KD is a better player but not so much better that I'm willing to make the team older and more expensive while making the window for winning a title smaller. Just by being older KD is more injury prone. Account for his history and we know he's more injury prone than JB. I'll take my chances that the JB, JT core can stay healthy and win a title before a team centered around KD can do the same.
 

Koufax

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I'm on team Kliq. I'm fat and lazy, stuffed to the gills with championships. I have no interest in bringing on an unlikeable mercenary at the cost of losing a very good and likeable player who has been with us from the start. I'd much rather see the Jays continue to develop and to build around them.
 

joe dokes

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I'm on team Kliq. I'm fat and lazy, stuffed to the gills with championships. I have no interest in bringing on an unlikeable mercenary at the cost of losing a very good and likeable player who has been with us from the start. I'd much rather see the Jays continue to develop and to build around them.
Me, too. JB seems to improve every year. He wont be as good as KD, probably ever, but who is?
 

Ed Hillel

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Is Booker tradeable post-extension?
Hasn’t really been discussed, but it would seem to present the same problem as Bam. They’d need to find a way to offload Simmons.

Edit - What about Jaylen?
 

Everetts Dinosaurs

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This is a hard no for me:
  1. Taking into account injury risk, the direction of their careers, and Durant's inability to commit, I don't think this materially improves our chances at a 'chip, at least not in such a way that it makes up for everything else.
  2. I think we're seeing just how much consistency and continuity matter in the NBA. 4 of the 5 best teams this year were pretty heavily in the continuity/build-from-within camp (Golden State, Boston, Milwaukee, Memphis), and the 'grab as many stars as possible' group really flamed out (Brooklyn, Lakers). The idea of plug and play stars is, I think, outdated.
  3. I don't like Durant and don't want to see him in a Celtics uniform.
 

Captaincoop

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No freakin brainer. 4 years control of a still elite Durant to pair with Tatum gets us a min of one ring without anything else on the roster (assuming the + are a couple #1’s and no rotation players).
Yeah, if you could figure out the cap situation, that would not need a discussion. You do it and don't think twice.
 

Everetts Dinosaurs

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Also, Celtics have some bad juju with the Isaiah Thomas situation and their reputation across the league has clearly been bruised. I'd rather have a reputation for being a place that takes care of its players and creates decades-long loyalty in both directions and bring in guys to fill the gaps. The alternative is a situation where current players are always looking over their shoulders and its an uphill battle to bring in free agents.
 

Ed Hillel

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Also, Celtics have some bad juju with the Isaiah Thomas situation and their reputation across the league has clearly been bruised. I'd rather have a reputation for being a place that takes care of its players and creates decades-long loyalty in both directions and bring in guys to fill the gaps. The alternative is a situation where current players are always looking over their shoulders and its an uphill battle to bring in free agents.
Yeah, I don’t believe any of this. IT fell off a cliff and the trade was an absolute no brainer (despite Kyrie being Kyrie), and I’d wager the Celtics being 2 wins from a championship makes them more attractive as a destination than trading IT away 6 years ago is a detriment. Of course, it’s 99% about money regardless.

Also, in terms of “likable” teams from a fan perspective, crazy enough it would seem winning correlates very highly with a team being “likable.” In December, most people hated this very team. Durant might be surly, but I’m sure we’d all get over it if he hung a banner or two.
 

Everetts Dinosaurs

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Yeah, I don’t believe any of this. IT fell off a cliff and the trade was an absolute no brainer (despite Kyrie being Kyrie), and I’d wager the Celtics being 2 wins from a championship makes them more attractive as a destination than trading IT away 6 years ago is a detriment. Of course, it’s 99% about money regardless.
It might have been a no-brainer, but it was directly referenced by one of those stars we tried to lure (AD) as a reason he didn't want to come to Boston.
And despite Boston being 2 wins from a championship, there haven't been any rumblings of anyone trying to come here, particularly with the one mega-talent who has demanded a trade. I don't think making the finals makes you a destination spot; winning it does.
 

Fishercat

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I'm a dummy, but I went no because I think the "plus" would be too onerous to justify it. In a vacuum, where it's Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant with the plus being minimal I'm probably a soft yes, but I think there's absolutely real concerns around Kevin Durant. There are NBA legends who play into their late 30s at a high level but there's also a lot who really begin falling off at 34 or 35. Kevin Durant lost a full season a few years back and has missed some notable playing time in most of his seasons in the last half decade or so. Now, I'm not sure how much this ultimately matters if you have him for the playoffs if the team is good enough to make it, but I'd imagine the Nets would've loved to be better than a 7 seed needing to win a play in to face the Celtics this year. There aren't really other players like KD, but I think it's fair to wonder if he's more Dirk who played well into his late 30s or more Bird who eventually broke down to injury. There was also the element that it took the Celtics more than half the season to get to where they were in Ime's system, and a shift that sends Jaylen and some elements of Marcus/Williams/etc. out with him is going to cause some pretty substantial reconsiderations to keep going.

The real answer to this question probably lays in if you think the core as it's currently constituted is capable of winning a title with Jaylen Brown as your #2 (and Tatum as your #1). They sure as hell got close last year but really needed some great performances that you can't rely on in future years as well as, by and large, a lot of luck with health at the right time (Timelord was hurt and I'm guessing Tatum was hurt, but most of the team stayed reasonably healthy). If you think it's no, then I think this answer has to be yes. If you think they can win on their own, this is a much bigger, uglier gamble.

But I am a dummy so here for the ride.
 

bankshot1

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I'd much rather watch Tatum/JB/Smart/ TL and Al cut down the net to One Shining Moment (and maybe more than once if they can keep the core 4 together for a while ) than watching KD do so and become part of Celtic lore.

But in the end its about the laundry
 

BigSoxFan

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I remain a firm “yes” with a condition: Tatum and Durant need to be fully on board. If they both are, I don’t see how you don’t take a chance to pair an all-time great with a kid who may be on his way to becoming one as well. They both are about as good as it gets as two-way wings.

The “no” angles are all valid so I don’t begrudge that line of thinking either. Really comes down to risk tolerance among other factors.

This is the only type of deal that I’d consider dealing Jaylen for. He’s really grown into a very good player. But his defense just isn’t good and his inability to handle the hall are real issues for this team when Tatum is off.
 

bsj

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The + is the problem for me.

Jaylen, Grant, and maybe 2 picks is probably my ceiling. Even that I am not super comfortable with but I can probably get there.

But I suspect to get him we would need at least one more pick if not one more player, and thats a hard no for me
 

Smokey Joe

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It might have been a no-brainer, but it was directly referenced by one of those stars we tried to lure (AD) as a reason he didn't want to come to Boston.
And despite Boston being 2 wins from a championship, there haven't been any rumblings of anyone trying to come here, particularly with the one mega-talent who has demanded a trade. I don't think making the finals makes you a destination spot; winning it does.
That was AD’s father who brought up IT and it was widely assumed to be a Klutch move trying to sabotage any AD to Boston momentum.
 

BigSoxFan

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The + is the problem for me.

Jaylen, Grant, and maybe 2 picks is probably my ceiling. Even that I am not super comfortable with but I can probably get there.

But I suspect to get him we would need at least one more pick if not one more player, and thats a hard no for me
Think it all depends on the market. I don’t see a centerpiece out there better than Jaylen, especially if Miami can’t deal Bam (and I’d much rather have Jaylen). What if Ayton doesn’t play ball? If the Celtics were actually motivated to make a deal and offered up Jaylen, I think they would have a leg up on the competition and wouldn’t need to mortgage the future. Sure a pick or two would be needed as well but I don’t see one of those 3 picks 2 swap type deals if you’re leading with Jaylen.
 

RedOctober3829

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The Celtics have to go to Jaylen and gauge his interest in a contract extension. If he doesn't want to sign once he's eligible to, then I think you start to become more serious about dangling Brown out there for Brooklyn. There's a decent chance Brown could feel like he can be the #1 player on a team and want to leave at the end of his deal.

The Celtics could put together a very competitive package of Brown, Grant, Theis and the requisite amount of FRP's and pick swaps. The trump card, if they really want to do this deal, is to offer their choice of 1 of Smart/Rob/White plus picks if they didn't want Grant/Theis. Either option works in the trade machine.

If Jaylen won't commit, you do the deal.
 

Ed Hillel

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Zero chance you give up Jaylen AND Timelord. Absolutely not. Maybe White.
 

Cellar-Door

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The Celtics have to go to Jaylen and gauge his interest in a contract extension. If he doesn't want to sign once he's eligible to, then I think you start to become more serious about dangling Brown out there for Brooklyn. There's a decent chance Brown could feel like he can be the #1 player on a team and want to leave at the end of his deal.

The Celtics could put together a very competitive package of Brown, Grant, Theis and the requisite amount of FRP's and pick swaps. The trump card, if they really want to do this deal, is to offer their choice of 1 of Smart/Rob/White plus picks if they didn't want Grant/Theis. Either option works in the trade machine.

If Jaylen won't commit, you do the deal.
His interest is... zero. He's not taking a sub-max extension when he'll easily get the max if he waits
 

kazuneko

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The Celtics could put together a very competitive package of Brown, Grant, Theis and the requisite amount of FRP's and pick swaps. The trump card, if they really want to do this deal, is to offer their choice of 1 of Smart/Rob/White plus picks if they didn't want Grant/Theis. Either option works in the trade machine.
If Jaylen won't commit, you do the deal.
With Bam apparently untradable for obscure salary cap reasons, and JJJ going under the knife -yesterday- for a serious injury, I’m still not seeing which contender is offering a package that forces the Cs to go crazy with pick swaps and Rob (no way). Is New Orleans a true contender -even with Durant? Zion is potentially exciting for Brooklyn but with him about to sign a max he is much more risky. Can his lower extremities really handle his monstrous physique? Seems like a guy who is going to become increasingly irrelevant just as he becomes more and more expensive. Only 85 games played in his first 3 years, and that’s with the advantage of being in his early 20s. He would have been more valuable without the max, as that contract immediately looks like a strong candidate to be a total albatross.
 

Jungleland

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I love Jaylen Brown. I hate Kevin Durant. Jaylen Brown is entering his prime. Kevin Durant is near the end of his. Absurdly easy no for me unless you're very worried about Jaylen walking in 2 years, which I'm just not close to yet.

Part of living such a charmed existence as a sports fan is that I've seen enough championships from my teams to last a lifetime. I don't feel like my teams need to be desperately swinging for the fences at every chance to win a possible title. At this point, I'd rather have the enjoyment of seeing a team organically built around two superstars that we have watched grow from two teenage rookies to two all-stars win it all than a team featuring the mercenary Durant, a hugely unlikeable personality. That difference outweighs the fact that the Celtics could be a marginally better team with Durant instead of Brown (and whatever is packaged with him).

I also think it would be unnecessary since the Celtics were so close to winning a title this year and I believe they can totally do it with their current team, especially given that Brown and Tatum have gotten better every single year they have been in the league and there is no reason to think that won't continue to be the case. People are acting like the Celtics got crushed in the second round and NEED to make a move to win a title.

I would have a hard time enjoying a team that sent Jaylen Brown, who carried their asses at critical junctures when Tatum was laying an egg, to within two games of a title, to basketball purgatory in order to get an unlikeable player who is 10% or whatever better than him.
I'm also 100% on board with this (it's almost exactly what I was thinking about when I posted in the Sox players vs laundry thread a few days ago, actually). Maybe it was 28-3 or the 2018 Sox but at some point in the last 5 years or so I mellowed hard in how I look at Boston sports success for the foreseeable future. I'm also not a diehard Celtics guy so I can acknowledge that the amount of time since their last championship is weighing on others here harder than it is me. But I'd rather take my chances with a likable core that essentially came up together and has never won a ship between them than I would with trading for the guy who blew up his own opportunity for that to play for the already-best team in the league, even if the latter increases your odds of winning it all.

I also am not going to let the last three games of the season dissuade me too hard from the idea that the team as currently constituted has a potentially long window to have multiple cracks at the title. I'm not in favor of shortening that window for anything, so again I come back to a hard no unless you have inside information that Jaylen is going to shorten that window himself.
 

Smokey Joe

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Pass.
The only reason that KD is not considered to be toxic right now is because he is standing next to Kyrie.
 

TripleOT

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Because of the rule that doesn’t allow a team to make trades for two rookie max contract players, Brown is probably the best young all star BK can acquire. If they’re moving on from both Kyrie and Durant, which it appears that’s what they doing, their best bet is to create a team with a defensive identity like the Celtics. If the trade package going to Brooklyn is Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Grant Williams, and picks, the Nets would be on the way to creating a defensive juggernaut. They locked up a TL type, Nic Claxton, at reasonable money. Having two guys that can guard 1-4, in Simmons and Brown, White guarding 1-3, and Grant guarding 3-5, is a solid base for a very switchy defensive team.

Simmons and JB make a great defensive backcourt. This should be a great backcourt in transition, and Brown has shown that he can certainly light it up from the perimeter with self generated offense, which is needed considering Simmons’ limited offense.

The Nets would have to bring in a scorer for the Kyrie asset, and then would have a young, solid team, assuming Simmons can play at pre-meltdown level.

Trading a possible decade of all star level play by JB for three of four seasons of 34 year old Durant would be a huge gamble, but the odds of raising a banner the next two seasons increase with KD. If Durant was willing to buy in completely, I would reluctantly make that trade. Obviously a big downside if it doesn’t work out, especially with few number one picks and the pick swaps.
 

bsj

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Probably a hard no now. I think this team has improved dramatically today without breaking up its core or mortgaging its future. Let’s go to battle.
 

BigSoxFan

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Probably a hard no now. I think this team has improved dramatically today without breaking up its core or mortgaging its future. Let’s go to battle.
Future is already mortgaged. SA still controls our 2028 draft…
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,559
Here
Probably a hard no now. I think this team has improved dramatically today without breaking up its core or mortgaging its future. Let’s go to battle.
With the moves today, they should be even more incentiveized to go for it in the next few seasons. If you get Durant on this team, and keep him from forming a bigger contender elsewhere, it seems like a no brainer. Four years from now, Brown and Tatum might have both left. You gotta sieze the moment in the NBA, the landscape changes so quickly.

Good news is they're in position to contend regardless.
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,093
With the moves today, they should be even more incentiveized to go for it in the next few seasons. If you get Durant on this team, and keep him from forming a bigger contender elsewhere, it seems like a no brainer. Four years from now, Brown and Tatum might have both left. You gotta sieze the moment in the NBA, the landscape changes so quickly.

Good news is they're in position to contend regardless.
Agreed. Jaylen/White for Durant works salary wise.

TL / Horford
Durant / GWill
Tatum / Gallo
Brogdon
Smart / PP

Add a couple ring chasing vets for the minimum and game on.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Adding Brogdon lets Jaylen play to his strengths as one of the best secondary scorers in the league, and takes away his biggest weakness, which is being a primary initiator.

Given that, I'd much rather have Jaylen and the "+" now, because Brad has done such a good job so far turning "+" into on-court talent and fit. Also can avoid betting on a 34 year-old who's been missing a lot of games, which is always terrifying.