Because the Celtics prefer the Rockets cover some of the draft assets in a Giannis trade because Jaylen Brown isn't nearly enough in a straight up deal.
Yeah we’re not in the East and yeah I’ve been anti-Giannis but why not go get Giannis ourselves? I’m not 100% certain (or even 90% or 80%) but I think? I might rather have Giannis? (Celtics might too. ) He is 2 years older. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ Brown: 29y-231days Giannis: 31y-188days Brown: 2026-27: $57,078,728 | 2027-28 $61,015,192 | 2028-29 $64,951,656 Giannis: 2026-27: $58,456,566 | 2027-28 $62,786,682 (Player Option—will likely decline; eligible for 4y/$275M) Not like we’re really getting a discount (either contract/money wise or what we’ll have to send out) Likely trading Sengun so gonna need a center either way? (The whole Giannis doesn’t want to play center and needs a certain type of center blahblahblah) +Brown “healthier” (GA: 36-67-73-63-67(306) games played last 5 years; JB: 71-63-70-67-66(337)) +Brown “easier fit” (but that’s as much an Ameiz problem as it is Giannis problem) Brown-Durant-Ameiz Giannis-Durant-Ameiz Spoiler Also there is no “window” or “timeline”. You just try to build the best team you can and try to get one. Nuggets were gonna win multiple titles! Celtics were gonna win multiple titles! (Oops, there goes the achilles and now we may make an altering trade!) Luka & the Mavs will be back! Thunder were gonna win multiple titles! (Both 2012 baby thunder and current. OK, if they win next year or year after, 2 in 3/4 years, fair enough.) Spurs are gonna win multiple titles and Gumby already in the goat conversation despite not winning one yet! Knicks (or Spurs) Thunder (Pacers) Celtics (Mavs) Nuggets (Heat) Warriors (Celtics) Bucks (Suns) Lakers (Heat) Raptors (Warriors) ———— Warriors (Cavs) Warriors (Cavs) 8 champs in 8 years With the apron rules, good luck.
ngl, I don’t think Giannis would sign an extension here…or he’ll certainly threaten that he won’t he’s never seemed to be interested in Houston, and our disastrous playoff showing definitely doesn’t help
Derrick White isnt worth 2 FRP unless those are Rockets frps. White is a bad/inconsistent 3 pt shooter, wouldnt solve our spacing issue.
Brown KD and Amen can work, Giannis Amen and KD wont work due to spacing. Celtics can go get Giannis because Tatum can shoot 9 threes a game at decent accuracy. Tatum also arguably has been playing oit of position at PF, with Giannis there he can move to SF. Also Brown isnt dependent on his athleticism, Giannis looks like he is on a LA Dwight or NY Amare trajectory lol.
The more I've thought about it the more I feel like Brown is not the best player on a championship team (Tatum was actually that guy despite Brown's Finals MVP), and if he's not the best player on a championship team, what are we doing if we acquire him? Brown can put up numbers as a #1 guy, but he does it inefficiently and with a poor AST:TO ratio. I don't know man. I don't think he'll come cheap in terms of assets either. If were were just giving up Sengun and salary filler that would be one thing. But giving up, say, several first round picks would probably come back to bite us, with no ring to show for it.
Dude, come on. The guy who was Finals MVP can’t be the best player on a Finals team? You really have to do some mental gymnastics to land on that conclusion.
There's been plenty of discussion about this already, you can refer back to earlier parts of this thread--Brown's advanced impact numbers don't actually look very good. He's not that efficient, he turns the ball over a lot, not a great passer, not a great rebounder, not great at generating steals/blocks. As far as the Finals MVP thing... well, there are two parts to answer this. One is that any player can have a good series or a bad series, it's not actually that predictive of long-term abilities. And two, I honestly think Tatum should have won Finals MVP in 2024, not Brown. I don't put that much stock into what a panel of 11 sports journalists think. In any case, even if you think he can be the best player on a championship team... do you think he is good enough in the context of this team to do that, minus all the assets we'd have to give up to get him? As opposed to the ridiculously stacked Boston context?
Brown dragged a depleted Celtics team to a two seed last season, averaging 29/7/5. He's clearly good enough to be the #1 on a championship team. Do I think he'd make us good enough to make this team championship caliber? Depends. Let's say we have to send Sengun - I think Durant, Brown, and Amen is good enough for immediate contender status. Not OKC level contender status, but in that second tier. Let's say we send out Durant instead of Sengun - I don't think we'd be contenders immediately, but I do think we can be in a couple of season if Amen and Sengun continue to progress. If we can somehow land Brown without trading Durant, Sengun, or Amen, that would be a home run, even if we give up a ton of separate assets. The fact that we were the youngest squad to win a playoff game in history last season put things in perspective for me. These guys need some more time to develop, so I think we either make a move to pair Durant with another star, or we trade Durant for a younger #1. I'd, frankly, prefer the latter, though I'm not sure it's possible.
I would welcome JB here. Houston would actually have a guy outside of KD (who will probably be hurt) that can put the ball in the basket and not shoot bricks.
Brown is more likely to be the best player on a championship team than anyone currently on the roster, even considering age and time horizon. That's not to say that there aren't players that are more likely, such as Giannis... Giannis would have to want to come here though. We have good reason to believe Brown wants to play for Udoka again. He also fills a weakness as a perimeter scorer. He and KD would make a strong one/two punch while Amen (and perhaps Reed/Tari/Bari...) hopefully takes the next step. I'd love to get either White or Pritch as well to round out the lineup.
Several reasons. Giannis doesn’t seem to really want to come here which unfortunately makes a big difference. Also, Brown is younger and healthier and a better fit and should be cheaper than Giannis in term of outgoing assets (he’s not a better player than Giannis obviously, but these are just some of the “pros”)