Jaylen Brown, Celtics, Celtics trade
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Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics looks up at video board as he's taken out of the game during the second half of an NBA game against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 3, 2026 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
The idea of the Boston Celtics trading Jaylen Brown sounds blasphemous. Brown has firmly established himself as a top-10 player and arguably the best two-way player in the game this season, averaging career-highs in points (29.6), assists (4.9) and FG% (.501), while leading the C’s to the second seed in the East.
That said, Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t just any other player, and could be a rare piece the Brad Stevens-led front office could consider in a potential Jaylen Brown trade.
NBA analytics guru Tom Haberstroh laid out the pros and cons of a potential Antetokounmpo for Brown swap in his latest Substack feature. He argued that Boston could usher in a new dynasty if Antetokounmpo links up with Jayson Tatum, even though he worries about the Celtics’ “immaculate culture” could be compromised by taking away Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, from the equation.
Proposed Celtics Trade Details
Haberstroh noted that the Celtics would have to include only Xavier Tillman’s $2.5M expiring salary to make the hypothetical direct swap work. Such a trade would have been considered highway robbery even until last season, when Antetokounmpo was viewed as a significantly better player than Brown.
However, Brown’s ascension this season, and the fact that he’s two years younger than Antetokounmpo, mean the “calculus has flipped,” reckons Haberstroh.
Celtics would receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bucks would receive: Jaylen Brown, Xavier Tillman
Furthermore, Antetokounmpo’s recent injury history has affected how teams around the league perceive him, per the NBA insider.
“Any team acquiring Giannis has to be a little nervous about the downside risk. He just turned 31,” wrote Haberstroh. “He has missed one in three games this season dealing with a nagging calf injury that keeps popping up on the injury report. Calf strains are increasingly being monitored for Achilles tear risk even if the science is mixed.”
“Big picture, his health record isn’t sparkling clean. Teams looking to acquire him have to be able to stomach the fact that he has been injured in two of the last three playoff runs. ”
Giannis to Celtics? Analytics Guru Explores ‘Thought Experiment’
Giannis and Tatum Together?
All those concerns notwithstanding, Haberstroh wouldn’t blame the Celtics if they pulled the trigger on a Jaylen Brown trade for Antetokounmpo.
“The Greek Freak is a downhill dunker like we’ve never seen in NBA history,” he wrote. “He doesn’t require methodical post-ups or a series of pick-and-rolls to get his buckets. He can turn a stop into a slam in seconds.”
“That superpower has allowed him to single-handedly make the Bucks a winning outfit when he takes the floor, even though he’s hampered with arguably the worst supporting cast in the league. The Bucks are 13-9 when he plays and 4-11 when he doesn’t.”
“Advanced player metrics paint Giannis as the third-best player in the NBA, a guy who provides All-NBA level on both ends of the floor. It’s those player metrics, which consider box-score stats AND on-off data, that really illustrate the greatness of Giannis Antetokounmpo even as he ages into his 30s.”
The Celtics previously explored trading Brown for Kevin Durant in 2022, Anthony Davis in 2019 and Kawhi Leonard in 2018, per multiple reports. They were reportedly very close to landing Durant in 2022 in a deal that would have sent Brown, Derrick White and a first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets. Of course, a lot has changed since those nixed trades, with Brown helping the Celtics raise Banner No. 18 in 2024.