Bill Simmons: Jaylen Brown wants to be traded to Houston?

I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ll say it — I’d be willing to give up our top pick this year if (1) it is outside the top two, (2) Harden is signing, and (3) Brown signs an extension with us.

Harden
Green
Brown
Smith
Sengun

That’s an exciting team right there.

 

One FA that nobody is considering is the Net’s Harris. He won’t command anywhere near his last contract and is a great 3 pt shooter. Add Harden and Harris to our youngsters without using any draft capital. You can then use draft picks and/or role players to trade for another pretty good vet maybe a center to come off the bench. It is possible we could get Harden, Harris, Conley and Bridges this off-season without losing any of our top 3. I did say possible, not likely.

 

I think that was my point all along, some are overly attached to the bags of magic beans and they'd prefer just going on blind hope than trading them for certainty.

Also, your "top 3" is kind of picked randomly and not based on performance whatsoever. You have 2 of the worst players on the Rockets last season in your "top 3"....

I think that's just the difference here, you seem to be going on "gut feeling" where I'm going on more objective standards.

 

Just going on stats with guys drafted as young as our’s has been shown by multiple posts in the GARM to be a poor predictor of future performance. It’s why I think players and FO’s around the league tend to rely on their instincts when it comes to recent draft picks. We will see if our GM has the proper instinct or not. Kobe and many others sucked at this age and were among the best that ever played the game. Let’s see what these guys can do with a competent coach.

 

That's mostly just cope.

A player looked terrible.....but hey, we can find another player who also looked terrible so that means they are superstars.

If they weren't so ridiculously emotionally attached to certain players they wouldn't be doing that. You can't tell me they weren't hoping they'd actually look like halfway decent players and that they aren't low key disappointed and just looking for any spin they can find.

 

I’ll just bow out after this since we are just going in circles. I’ve seen enough of Green, Sengun, and Jabari to feel they have a better chance than 50% to be really good, if not great, NBA players (Jabari especially because of body type and work ethic). I think most of the league agrees, but I have no in-sight into that.

 

Harris is an interesting pull. Dillon Brooks is also a free agent, as is Josh Hart.

I would definitely prefer to get a non-star 3-and-D player and part with KJ Martin or Tari Eason instead of swinging for the fences and losing Green/Jabari/Sengun. Would fit within multiple scenarios; signing Harden or another free agent point guard, drafting Scoot, or even keeping KPJ at the 1 (which I'm hoping is over and done, but we'll see).

 

I think Brown is better than Middleton and much better than Murray. Brown is within shouting distance of being top 15, which is why his team's success will boost him into all-NBA, IMO.

A better comparison would be someone like Klay Thompson when he was making all-NBA teams during the Warriors run. Was he a really good, top 20-25 player? Absolutely, but I don't think he was top 15 as his all-NBA selections implied.

 

I think to get to top 15 you need to be more diverse in the offensive end as in having some semblance of playmaking which Jaylen Brown absolutely does not have. In fact he's worse than Green at it now with 5 years more experience. If not then you need to be an all-defensive first team level player also and Brown isn't that. He's competent in the sense he isn't a broken link in the chain of elite defense with Celtics. Keep in mind he's surrounded by defensive studs like Williams and Smart.

He's borderline top 20.

 

I agree, I'd even say he's closer to 30 right now but yeah. His metrics really aren't good but when he's on, he looks amazing. I agree that his defense is overrated.

It won't be like a travesty if he made 3rd team, but again my stance is that's mostly driven by his team's success rather than his individual play.

 

If the Rockets really want Brown all they have to do is wait it out and if he decides or Celtics decide not to extend him then the asking price won't be in their favor as they try to move him and get something or lose him for nothing and Rockets can back up the brinks if they value him that much

I think Brown current deal is about to expire in the next year or so

 

Trading away potential franchise cornerstones when you can just try to outbid everyone else when Brown hits free agency next year is so stupid. I'm shocked people are considering it.

 

Because most are mistaking a full blown rebuild with a retool state of mind, which I can't really knock them for that, but Stone already told them to revisit the Harden trade in 10 years which was also directly aligned with the rebuild timeline

Stone is using his attorney wordplay n tactics to cover his moves in case it all goes sideways

 

Looking at the field this year he probably does at least make third team All-NBA. Voters like more successful teams, so they're going to weigh Boston's second-best record highly.

 

Truth.
DD

 

Lol I find it weird, they mention it now after all this time.

They asked Jaylen at which position he wanted to get All NBA considerations.

He said at forward.

 

Everything you have said is based on IF's.

IF Jalen has a big 3rd year jump
IF Jalen becomes more efficient

Neither are guaranteed nor are they even probable. Just possible.

What Brown is is absolute a top 20 player of which there are only .... 20.

What Jalen is? A high volume inefficient player on a 20 and 21 win team in consecutive years.

Sure Green's ceiling is higher but the floor is much lower too.

 

Let's not lose sight of the ultimate goal. The goal isn't to just be a decent team. The goal is to a win a championship. That's why you take the upside play over surefire mediocrity.

 

How many years in before Brown became this top 20 player? pretty sure Celtics fans were saying IF Brown and Tatum become top 20(or better) after few yrs in then they have a chance to compete in deep playoff runs

What Jalen is right now is learning the ropes in a tanking environment, If he reaches his ceiling is all on him and how bad he wants it, from outside looking in he seems to be aware of what he needs to work on and that the team needed more structure (according to reports), awareness is a underrated trait in sports

Similar to how Brown is where he is at now compared to when he first came in as a rookie, that's all any team can hope for their lottery picks growth