Boston Celtics Rumors: Wavering on a Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant swap

Would the Boston Celtics do the unthinkable and pull off a trade for the great Kevin Durant centered around a package starting with Jaylen Brown?

Talk about fireworks, that would be the kind of explosive move that would either secure Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens as a savvy, bold executive or cement him as enemy No. 1 for those who shun any idea of breaking up the Jays.

To really think about it, a deal with the Brooklyn Nets for Durant would be irony for a few reasons.  The Celtics would not only use the Nets once again to take another step in the franchise’s quest for Banner 18, but they would also do so by trading them back a player they drafted with one of those coveting draft picks Danny Ainge hoarded in that Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce deal back in the day.

There’s also sticking it to Kyrie Irving, but this opinion piece is not about him.  It’s about trading a rising star in Jaylen Brown for an aging Kevin Durant who is still the, if not one of the best players in the world.

Boston Celtics could make a bold move and put together a package for Kevin Durant

Is pairing Durant and Jayson Tatum more appealing of a very deep team led by Brown and Tatum, a team that were two wins away from an NBA Championship before adding Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari to the mix?

Is winning Banner 18, 19 and perhaps 20 over a four-year span more of a reality with Durant?

That is where the wavering back and forth goes because Durant can start to decline any year now.  Then again, Boston Sports fans thought that about Tom Brady many seasons ago and he is still one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL well into his 40s.

Basketball is a different game however and as much fun as Durant’s daily battles with Boston media would be, watching a player like Brown continue to get better and help ride this team to a championship would feel more natural.

So, the more Durant is dangled out there while teams like the Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns and those Golden State Warriors try to maneuver a package that would entice the Nets, the more a Celtics package centered around Jaylen Brown makes the most sense.  This fan is torn and I’m not the only one.

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Stadium NBA Insider Jeff Goodman is also torn when it comes to an NBA blockbuster deal that would set the league on fire.  In an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Goodman said it would depend on what else the Celtics had to give up.

"“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think so. I’m torn, whether – obviously you’re going to have to give up Jaylen Brown in a deal to get KD and more than that – I’m even torn,” Goodman said it Tuesday, as transcribed by WEEI.  “And you guys know I’m not the biggest Jaylen Brown guy in the world, but KD at 34, his injury history and certainly, yes, you do have a good, young core here that played well together last year. Again, I don’t think it’s fair to judge KD on last season because he had to play with Kyrie. And he was the one who chose that, I get it, but anybody who has to play with Kyrie, it’s certainly draining mentally as much as anything else.“So I don’t know, I don’t know whether I’d do it or not. It probably depends again exactly what you’d have to give up, but I’d assume it would be Jaylen Brown, and another player, and at least one first-round pick.”"

Durant’s age aside, it really depends on that other player or players who would have to be involved.  Any one of Marcus Smart, Derrick White or Robert Williams could make that package more intriguing for the Nets, but Stevens must be careful that he doesn’t gut the roster for a player in Durant who may decide Boston is not for him after a season and ask to be traded.

Would it be worth breaking up the Jays for that possibility?  Although Durant would take the Celtics to the promise land immediately, it certainly a gamble and this fan is wavering.