6:26am: The Celtics offered Brown, White, and a draft pick to the Nets in exchange for Durant, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Brooklyn turned down that offer and countered by asking for Brown, Marcus Smart, multiple draft picks, and possibly one additional rotation player.
The Celtics aren’t currently inclined to include Smart along with multiple other picks or players, but they’re considering their next move in the negotiations, according to Charania, who suggests that Boston has emerged as a “serious” potential landing spot for Durant. No deal is imminent, but the C’s view Durant as a player who could be the missing piece as they pursue a title, Charania writes.
Charania also reports that the Suns “appear to be all but eliminated” from the Durant sweepstakes with Deandre Ayton back under contract and ineligible to be traded.
5:58am: The Celtics are among the teams engaged in discussions with the Nets about a possible Kevin Durant trade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who hears that Boston has been in “regular contact” with Brooklyn.
It doesn’t appear the two sides have made any significant progress toward a deal, however, with Wojnarowski reporting that Boston isn’t any closer to acquiring Durant than a handful of his other suitors are. However, Woj says that the Celtics’ ability to include Jaylen Brown as a centerpiece in an offer makes the club “formidable in its pursuit.”
The Celtics view All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum as off-limits in any hypothetical Durant deal, per Wojnarowski. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, that leaves just seven contracts that Boston could trade without restrictions, led by Brown.
Wojnarowski suggests that a Celtics offer could theoretically include Brown and up to three first-round picks (2025, 2027, and 2029), as well as pick swaps in 2024 and 2026.
Because Brown is earning approximately $28.7MM in 2022/23 while Durant is making $44.1MM, the Celtics would have to include about $6.5MM in additional salary in order to meet the NBA’s salary-matching requirements.
Al Horford ($26.5MM), Marcus Smart ($17.2MM), Derrick White ($16.9MM), Robert Williams ($10.9MM), Grant Williams ($4.3MM), and Payton Pritchard ($2.2MM) are Boston’s other movable players, Marks notes. All are expected to be part of the team’s regular rotation in 2022/23.
While Durant hasn’t backed off his request to be traded out of Brooklyn, there’s a sense that the Nets also haven’t gained any real traction in any of their trade talks involving the former MVP, says Wojnarowski. The club continues to seek a return that includes “impactful” players, along with multiple unprotected first-round picks and swaps, sources tell ESPN.
The Raptors, Heat, and Suns are among the other teams believed to have interest in Durant, Wojnarowski writes. The 33-year-old has reportedly identified Miami and Phoenix of two of his preferred landing spots.
It’s unclear how Durant would feel about landing in Boston, but since he has four years remaining on his contract, a team trading for him wouldn’t have to worry about him leaving as a free agent in a year or two.
I would assume Brown is off limits.
I would say almost off limits. Slightly more off limitd than Kris Middleton in MKE is but not totally off limits. If you still think KD is KD great for the next four years and he wants to play for your team, you at least think about it.
Some of the Durant packages that have been floated are ridiculous, but to me, Brown as a centerpiece +White/Smart + a future 1st is a good deal for all sides. I don’t think Boston NEEDS to do that trade and could simply run it back with the same group. If they do want to go down that road, it’s not gutting their roster.
Brown as a centerpiece +White/Smart + a future 1st is definitely reasonable for both sides.
I honestly wouldn’t trade Brown for KD straight up. Brown is SO much more athletic and better defensively at this point in KD’s career. Also more committed to winning and less prone to injury. And cheaper. I would not go there if I’m the Celtics.
I looked at KD’s comps on BR. For each I identified how many years they played after the age 33 season, all star appearances (AS), seasons above their career average PER (PER), and seasons they played more than 2/3rds of the regular season (55 games).
First comp is KG who played 7 seasons after age 33, appeared in 2 more all star games, had no seasons above his career average PER, 4 seasons where he played 55 or more games.
1. KG – 7 seas – 2 AS – 0 PER – 4 55g
2. Barkley – 3 – 0 – 0 -1
3. Dr. J – 3 – 3 – 0 – 3
4. Dirk – 7 – 2 – 1 – 4
5. Bird – 2 – 2 – 0 – 1
6. Duncan – 6 – 3 – 1 – 6
7. Dantley – 2 – 0 – 0- 0
8. Karl M – 7 – 4 – 3 – 5
The average of these 8 guys is 4.6 seasons, 1.8 All Star, 0.9 seasons above career average PER, and 3 seasons playing more than 55 games.
This is the problem with a KD trade. If you trade for the averages you could end up with Barkley or Dantley but equally likely is Duncan or Malone.
The range of possibilities is too high for some team to risk trading away a “haul” to get him,
It would seem that is an incorrect assumption.
Lol, he was already offered initially.
If the Nets can get one more FRP, they should take that package and run.
Please no!!!!!
I don’t get why they would blow up a finals team for a guy they shut down themselves. No one 34 is worth 4 First and Jaylen Brown!
Because NBA front offices cant help themselves, they love screwing everything up for guys like this who will get hurt and/or want out.
I guess they think they can’t beat GSW without him.
When LEBRON was 34 definitely
A (singular) guy THEY (plural) shut down themselves.
THEY (plural) don’t have A (singular) guy on their team as good as him (Durant), which is why it’s an easy call to trade for him. Substitute him for any one player on their roster in the Finals and they (plural) beat the Warriors.
I said the same for Dubs when this whole KD drama just began. Why would they break championship team. (They did have other priorities, to replace the bygone free agents anyways). Trade for KD is a big risk.
On the other hand, teams like the Raps did this before and could pull it off again, but unfortunately the asking price is too high (they’re not crazy to give reigning rookie of the year, their franchise future)
All in all another wasted season for Brooklyn coming up.
Best thing that could happen to Brown. He is arguably Cs best player. But is not league and media favorite. This would let him get his own team. With Simmons playmaking from post and d would be great. They might even keep Kyrie.
Irwing, Brown, Simmons with support cast of Harris,Curry, Claxston, O’Neal and kids, they are contending team in the east. I think that Kyrie had problem with Tatum, who is passive agressive.
Kyrie and Tatum are buddies.
Agree with what you said on Brown. #BballCrazy
Brown was the best player for the C’s in the finals. Significant risk to trade him for KD. KD is the better player currently but is also 34. Brown is still young and has room to grow still. It’d be a risk, but it also gives you an all-time great with your current roster that could put you over the top
i think kd would hate boston lol but its an interesting trade for both sides
That might be an issue.
Remember that when KD chose Golden State, Boston was the runner up.
As a Celtics fan, I’m ok with this, because Brown is a free agent in 2 years and I think he wants to be “the guy” on his squad and he won’t be with Tatum around.
Go for it Celtics!
As a LAL fan I’d love it!
Sigh. That moment when your favorite team considers your least favorite player.
Didn’t Boston already learn from the last mentally unstable player they traded a ransom for? Sheesh.
You honestly think they traded a ransom for Kyrie? A broken down Thomas, Jae Crowder and a pick that became Colin Sexton? For what was probably the second best point guard in the league at the time? It didn’t work out obviously but that is 50 cents on the dollar not a ransom.
Just because those players all ended up being nothing, doesn’t mean they were worth nothing the day the trade was made.
There’s a lot of other players who could have been acquired with similar packages, and without the easily predictable toxicity and drama.
“Just because those players all ended up being nothing, doesn’t mean they were worth nothing the day the trade was made.”
The same goes for Kyrie and his craziness. He was a bit of a pain back then, but his real craziness didn’t surface until he was with the Celtics. It wasn’t the best gamble, but considering the cost involved it was worthwhile IMO, though I do think the Celtics should’ve moved on from him sooner once they realized what he was.
@reflect
Put some respect on Sexton’s name.
They could have drafted Shai Gilgeous Alexander
Or Mikal Bridges, as I thought they would all year…we didnt know about the Thomas injury when the trade was made, and they didnt use Crowder the right way at all, and didnt get much value for him either
I wasn’t a Kyrie fan back then, and Crowder was one of my favorites. But that was a easy trade to make. Have to take a chance on elite talent if you want to win titles in the NBA. It didn’t work out, but they certainly did not give up much to acquire Kyrie.
The Celtics refusal to adding Smart in deal is insane
I think it’s moreso that they think Brown is plenty by himself, which he is. I’m sure Cs would gladly trade Smart without Brown.
More importantly, the Nets don’t have much leverage here. The Celtics have no reason to rush to a less desirable deal.
I mean the Nets leverage is they have what, four years of Durant? They have four years to trade him. If he wants to sit out and go on the restricted list, then, while he’d still count against the cap, the Nets wouldn’t actually have to pay him.
The Nets will move him because no one wants a toxic locker room mess, but they’re going to do it on their time table and their terms. They’re not over a barrel here. They also have supply and demand going for them. There is only one Kevin Durant and multiple teams want him.
In the end, if he gets shipped up to Boston it’s probably either going to be for Brown, Smart and one pick or Brown, White and multiple picks.
Yep, a 25- year-young, bright star for an older soon-to-be 34 brilliant star. May get our Celtics an 18th banner so it’s worth more. Stevens has to decide how much more.
Trust in Celtics (should have been Executive of the Year) Brad Stevens! Go Celtics!
How so? Giving up your star + Reigning DPOY is a good deal for ya?
If the Celtics had the assets/players they had during the least 1-3 years, this would be an obvious fit. I still think they theoretically could get it done, and my thoughts were similar packages as those mentioned in the article, but both are more beneficial to the Nets, where it’s a questionable decision, although I also kind of think it’s like an between thing b/c I’m not sure how much the Nets would want multiple long co tracts, but more importantly multiple guards back, though I think Jaylen Brown might be the best possible player they can get back in a deal, and helps them at a position of need on the wing
Brown, White, Pritchard, 2 picks and swaps
Brown, Smart, Pritchard, 1 1st and 1 2nd, and swaps
What is the better deal for Brooklyn specifically just comparing it to a Toronto deal with Siakam, Trent jr, Achiuwa, 3 1sts and swaps for KD and Seth Curry? Any opinions there? Also think it obviously beats Lowry, Herro, Strus, Jovic, 3 1sts, and swaps from the Heat…
If I’m Boston, I dont want to trade Jaylen Brown, but I might have been more comfortable if I still had some of the other versatile wings/guards I had the last couple of years. I definitely wouldnt want to do both Brown and Smart in the same deal, although having Brogdon helps there…its just I’m a big Smart fan, and I think that’s a hell of a lot of value, even though it is for someone like Kevin Durant. If it were earlier in the offseason, I might be more amenable though b/c at least I can potentially explore more options to fill out the roster in that situation
…I’d also add I could see the Nets also wanting Grant Williams in the deal, in which case, especially in the Smart scenario, that would be too much for me, just b/c I dont have any depth there. The Celtics could try to sign someone like James Johnson in that case, but a package of Brown, Smart, Williams would be hard to include additional draft picks with if I’m them
I just remembered they have Kabengele now, but I consider him more of a 5 than a 4/5, although I do think he could theoretically give them minutes at the 4 next to someone like Horford or another spacing 5, depending on who that would be, but I would want someone else there
TOR would happily backout before they offered that package.
I dont think so. Theyd be keeping the 2 main guys I wouldnt want to trade in Barnes and OG, and they would still retain their depth
Just as I had suggested the Celtics have all the pieces to make another big move.
However I thought it would be more likely to come mid season if they had a slow start or a big name become available.
Very strange that a team that did so well in the second half of the season and during the playoffs is making all these moves. As a Sixers fan, I’d actually love it. Sure they would be one of the best teams in the league and possibly better than us, but aren’t they already?
This move if anything makes there championship window shorter by trading for a 32 soon to be 33 year old superstar. Then rebuilding chemistry and making it all click.
For Brooklyn, I actually am kinda rooting for you guys. Still have a lot of love and faith for Ben Simmons. Sean Marks the GM love that guy representing New Zealand.
I’d love it if they could actually get Grant Williams in there somehow. He’s a great fit with Ben Simmons his ability to shoot, and play defence.
Once you trade away Kyrie, you’ll actually have a very solid team…
Simmons, Harris, Mills, Curry, White, Cam Thomas, TJ Warren, Brown, Grant Williams, Royce ONeale, Claxton and so on.
To go a step even further flip Seth Curry, DayRon Sharpe and a first for James Wiseman.
Think he’d be a perfect centre for this team with Simmons and Jaylen Brown. Plus the Curry boys linking up would be a cool storyline too
GSW would say no way to that deal
NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! Durant is great but not worth the price. DO NOT break up this team. They have a really good thing going now. IMO, the additions of Brogodon and Gallinari were great moves. Stop right there
Durant wouldn’t be where he is if it weren’t for curry and green. Dude can hoop but not special in this day.
It’s less an issue of that than it is an issue of age, injury history, and cost.
I don’t blame Durant for not being able to win with Westbrook and Brooks. Not many players could. They are floor raisers, not ceiling raisers.
Which of these possible packages would you rather accept for KD if you’re Brooklyn… Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, JD Davison plus 3 1sts OR Kristaps Porzingis, Deni Avdija, Johnny Davis plus 3 1sts OR Brandon Ingram, Jaxson Hayes, Jose Alvarado plus 3 1sts?
They cant take Ingram while they have simmons, but the Boston deal is the best one, in my opinion, of those
Who would be their big? They’d be deep at every position & built to last for 5-10yrs with DC’s offer…
Not a fan of Johnny Davis, so I’m biased, and I had Avdija in the 20-23 range in his draft, and havent seen enough from him so far. For him, I’d have to see what the final roster would look like after a probably Kyrie deal to know how to feel about him there, but value wise, I just dont like it. I probably like Porzingis more than most people though
They could figure out the big situation, outside of Claxton. You can get bigs in FA pretty easily, but I also think you can play Simmons at the 4/5/1, and would even currently start him at the 5, if they end up keeping KD
You watched Johnny Davis these past few yrs & you’re not a fan of him??? Are you a fan of Jaden Ivey & Keegan Murray? Because Davis completely dominated both those guy’s teams last season. A ready to play, top10 pick with 4/5 yrs of team control is obv extremely valuable chip to have whether you recognize his talent or not lol. And I mean you didn’t have Deni as a top20 guy in his class I think that obv says alot more about you than him lol. But tbh Deni prob wouldn’t be the best fit alongside Ben Simmons. You can sub Rui for Deni if you prefer or Kispert for Davis. DC has ability to give Brooklyn different options if they wanna make an offer for KD. Tbh Boston does too tho. I’d def try not to trade KD in the division if possible if I’m Brooklyn tho
I just felt Johnny Davis is super overrated. I love his competitiveness. I dont watch college basketball, and I’m just saying what I’ve been saying in the scouting process. I can repeat my reasoning, if you want, but I dont see why this should turn into an explain my opinions on Johnny Davis thread
What has Avdija done so far to say they should have taken him at 9 over the guy I mocked to them, Tyrese Maxey? I thought he had some interesting parts of his game offensively, but struggled to find a place to put him. I think I had Philly taking him at 21. I had like 4 different mock drafts that year going into it, depending on different things at the top of the draft, and lost 3 of them, so I dont 100% remember, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I mostly had, outside of someone trading up for him
Hachimura isnt great either, even though he has been mostly used out of position, but Krispert would be interesting if you’re Brooklyn for sure. Washington would then be left with nobody on the wing again though…
Why are you so quick to throw out judgements of other people, when it has nothing to do with anything, or when you take 1 or 2 words out of an entire comment and focus everything on that?
He gets all bent if I call someone “incredibly good” instead of “great”.
He is an interesting cat.
Everytime I saw Johnny Davis last yr he was absolutely dominant. Outside of just being a contrarian I can’t imagine how anyone could dislike Davis’ game. He was arguably the best player/scorer in the nation last season & he’s just as good defensively as he is offensively. I don’t think he’ll be a star but he’s def gonna be a really good player for a long time.. i never said DC should have taken Deni at 9 & it’s not about what he’s done so far. You saying he wasn’t top20 is a lil crazy. And tbh the reason I might seem dismissive or disrespectful to you guys comments is just bc as a whole I see yall as severely lacking in knowledge of the things yall speak about. Like it’s hard for me to imagine that you had Tyrese Maxey going top10 or that you knew much about Deni going into the draft just bc of everything ik about the crowd here on this site. Like even the few 1s like yourself that aren’t overtly hateful toward the best players are still like way off on the majority of the stuff u say. You say Brooklyn would be more interested in Kispert than Davis smh. You say DC would be left with noone on the wing I guess forgetting that Will Barton & Kyle Kuzma are still on the team plus future HOFer Brad Beal. Overall I feel like yall have little to no historical knowledge of the history of the game, little to no knowledge of the future/young guys coming up, little to no appreciation of the guys that are currently playing the game at the highest level basketball has ever been played & a tenuous/less than optimal ability to think for yourself when it comes to anything basketball
I had a response to this, but b/c I dont usually engage in this type of stuff, I’m not going to post it, and I’ll let others say what they want about it…I’m going to sleep for now, but when I wake up, maybe there will be more reason to post the response
Nah, don’t bother.
Probably a good call
What’s funny about this is the fact that despite not having to worry about KD leaving as a free agent, you’d obviously have to worry about him asking to be traded as soon as the Celtics don’t win a title.
No please! Keep Brown and Smart! KD could wind up a Kyrie Irving situation for Boston!
And, watching Brown terrorize the Celtics for the next 10+ years in a Nets uniform would suck royally.
Given that the Celtics are really good at keeping trade talks quite, this has to be a leak from the Nets. They must think that this gives them some amount of leverage, though I don’t know what it would be.
I probably agree with this. Brown is essentially the best player they’re being offered, yet they’re saying they want significantly more than even that, so that makes sense
Trust in Brad Stevens! Go Celtics!
They offered brown, white, blue, and yellow. Lol this is comedic.
Let them have Big Al, Grant Williams, and Pritchard along with all the #1’s they can carry……But J Brown is off limits
Nets want to GET SMART !!
I’ve been saying this for a while: at some point with the market as thin as it is Boston and Stevens have to at least have some curiosity start to pique.
I would say fair value is either Brown + Smart + 1 pick or Brown + White + multiple picks.
But the reality is unless Marks wants to take this into the season (and he very well might if he believes Durant can be satiated between now and then), then Brooklyn has no comparable return to Jaylen Brown. Not even Ayton was the type of scoring-wing centerpiece you really need to re-boot your franchise.
And because of the Simmons/RookieMaxExt CBA arcana it’s not even particularly close. If Marks truly wants to reboot on the fly then getting Brown back is almost a no-brainer. What’s the alternative? OG Anunoby and picks?
Furthermore, and I’m not sure how much this matters in the long-run, but not for nothing Brown is good basketball fit with both Simmons and Irving. What Brown doesn’t do well (dribble… pass….) both those guys do well.
Assuming there’s no market for Irving, a Brown-Simmons-Irving core would at least put Brooklyn in the playoff picture. And who knows … maybe Jaylen has another level to reach if he’s handed the keys.
I prefer the Celtics wouldn’t do it, unless Brown wants out. Yes Durant is a great player but I’ll love Brown and he gives us more shots to take a ring. Durant with his injury history and his age maybe have 2-3 years on his tank. And the C’s will lose White and picks – that’s just too much.
I hope they’ll make the right decision, but it all depends on whether Brown wants out / Lead a team. This is what we don’t know …
No No No!!! Maybe if Durant was 30….maybe
If Durant was 30 with a clean injury history, this would not be a maybe. It would be a yes, yes, yes!
Not a Boston fan, but you pull the trigger on that counter offer right away! Smart and Brown and picks for Durant. You win the title perhaps more than once.
I agree. People keep talking about age. The nba landscape changes so quickly. Pair up Durant and Tatum and see what happens. No guarantee Brown is in Boston in 2 years. What happens in 2 years if Brown walks and you don’t get back to the finals? What if someone else trades for Durant and that catapults them above Boston? It’s just as much about keeping him away from Miami for example.
Celtics can’t afford to lose both Brown and Smart. To be honest if I’m the Celtics coming off a finals appearance that would have been a chip had it been against anyone but GS, I think long and hard about moving Brown. They already added Brogdan and retained their core. No reason to believe this team can’t run it back. Biggest factor is Horford and his 26 million. Are you getting playoff Horford that was worth about 18 million? Or OKC Horford worth about 6 million? Not a fan of whites contract either, probably why they tried to put him in the deal
Horford was great in OKC… so who knows what you are talking about?!?!?
Horford played less than 30 games in OKC on the least amount of minutes in his career. Numbers stayed fine because that Thunder team was hardly even a team. To answer your question, basketball fans. Basketball fans know what Im talking about. Love the classic self like on the comment too. Never change
Brown wants out! Period! He has to many people in his ear telling him how great he is! The problem is he is the second best player on the Celtics team! I love Brown and he is my favorite player but Tatum is better! KD would stretch the floor for Tatum and allow him to have more driving lanes! The deal breaker for me is Smart! White and Pritchard and one pick! If you want Smart Williams and Multiple picks then give me Simmons as well as KD! If not KD see what the Jazz would take for Mitchell! I love Brown but him and his agent does not want to be in Boston! To bad he would make more money, win more championships!
These types of leaks are not going to help the chemistry of the team if they don’t make a move. At this point, I think trading Brown at some point might be necessary. There’s already been a lot of talk about him wanting out, now you have real rumors out there that he’s potentially on the block. Certainly not going to help getting him to resign.
Brown, White and a single 1st (reportedly offered) can’t be the best that BKN can do. Not sure that adding more BOS draft picks, alone, gets them there either. BOS 2023 1st belongs to IND, and there’s a 2028 swap with SAS in effect as well (2025, 2027 and 2029 are tradable).
Why Boston would overpay for Durant by including Brown is beyond my comprehension. Injury prone,approaching 35 and 4 years to go on a massive contract? Brown along with tatum is Boston’s core future. Don’t do it.
Nets could dump Simmons and net a good return for KD… Brown, Smart, White, anyone cheap, and 2 1sts.
Sell incredibly low on Ben Simmons but you don’t have to deal with him.
And maybe Boston is the warm caring fan base that he needs to thrive.
Also if he just plays defense and distributes Celtics can use him at the point for sure. Their team is built with 3 pt shooters. And they also know the best ways to defend him, so they can figure out a way to poke holes in that.
Ben Simmons in Boston would be glorious
I’m actually not convinced about the validity of this report, as I can almost assure you this is a leak from the Nets side. One of the leakiest front offices in all of sports.
Jaylen Brown is probably the best player we have heard being allegedly offered to Brooklyn for KD. Yet the report states that Brooklyn basically looked at this offer like it had 5 heads, and scoffed. That MO is right in line with many of the other Nets leaks to the media.
Agreed. As a Heat fan, I’d love to see one of our competitors to make a stupid trade. However, this trade rumor with the rumored pieces I heard about is absolutely so stupid that I couldn’t even see the Celtics doing that in my deepest pipe dream to see them foul this up.
Only in the NY media would you find a rumor that is so ridiculous have legs and momentum.
I’m not sure if they should make the trade but I would trade J Brown 26m, Derrick White 16m, R Williams 10m and Luke Korbet 2m and something else trade for K Durant 46m, Seth Curry 8m, Nic Claxton 6m and DayRon Sharpe 2m. Now it’s PG. M Brogdon, P Prichard, J Davison SG. M Smart, S Curry, ? SF. J Tatum, G Williams, S Housier. PF. K Durant, D Gallenari(spelled wrong), M Kabengele or someone else. C. A Horford, N Claxton D Sharpe, say bye to M Ryan and B Thomas and look at training camp players T Williams and J Begerin and J Hellems and in the end of all this sign Joe Johnson and or Isaiah Thomas and make the crowd go home happy