As two of this season’s most irritating groups, the Celtics and Hawks have a pair issues in widespread: 1) they want some form of change however 2) aren’t certain how audacious it should be. Each entered 2022 with excessive hopes, assured they may enhance upon what they achieved final yr whereas aspiring to grab a top-four seed. On paper, their rosters had been molded for a deep playoff run: proficient and versatile, constructed to play quick or sluggish, large and small. In actuality, each night time has been a guessing sport.
Boston is eighteen–21 with the NBA’s Twenty second-best offense and a palpable tension that’s hard to quantify however simple to see. Atlanta is 16–20 with the fifth-worst protection and an exhilarating assault that quivers in crunchtime. (The Celtics and Hawks even have the third and fourth-worst net ratings in the fourth quarter, respectively.)
A wave of accidents and COVID-related absences are simple, however consistency has eluded each golf equipment even when their main pieces are together. There’s an actual likelihood neither makes the playoffs, and in the event that they finish this season caught in mud a blockbuster deal could also be obligatory. Right here’s one that may tempt either side:
The Hawks get Jaylen Brown. The Celtics get De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter, Jalen Johnson and two unprotected first-round picks.
Pulling one thing this consequential off earlier than the season ends is simply too financially difficult and irrevocable to really occur—Huerter’s extension is a poison tablet and each entrance workplaces should first explore other roads at subsequent month’s trade deadline—nevertheless it has the potential of fixing a couple of lengthy and short-term points for every crew.
Brown is 25 years previous, on observe to make his second All-Star look and—sluggish growth as a playmaker apart—to not blame for Boston’s disappointment. Shifting on from him at any level might simply qualify as a colossal mistake. He’s a tank of lamp oil who adopted up a 50-point explosion in opposition to the Magic by dropping 30 on the Spurs Wednesday night time. (On Thursday, Brown went scoreless in the fourth quarter of one other Celtics meltdown.)
However—this will’t be pressured sufficient—as a final resort, earlier than he enters the ultimate yr of his contract (in 2024) on a crew that seemingly can’t purchase one other star with out together with him in the deal and has no apparent path again to NBA title rivalry, the Celtics should a minimum of think about such a doubtlessly useful alternative.
In Atlanta, a flourishing expertise like Brown is right. The Hawks would consolidate a roster their own general manager has apparently lost confidence in and land a official second star who’s nearer to Trae Younger’s stature than any teammate he’s ever had. Brown, Younger and John Collins grow to be a positionally complementary trio, with Clint Capela, Cam Reddish, Onyeka Okungwu and Bogdan Bogdanovic all filling vital roles which will ultimately develop. (Some double as fascinating trade chips, too.)
Within the short-term, this trade makes the Hawks a title contender, even higher outfitted than they’re for the pains of postseason play with a battle-tested shotmaker on the wing. Brown can elevate an offense that dies with out Younger and reduce the star level guard’s burden to do just about all the pieces else after they share the ground. His dependable three-point shot is smart functioning off the ball throughout Younger’s frequent pick-and-roll forays. He can get downhill, draw fouls, end on the basket (he’s shooting a career-best 75% at the rim) and ship the kind of mid-range uppercut that’s unguardable in a playoff sequence. Defensively, few are extra versatile than Brown. He can’t singlehandedly flip Atlanta’s misfortune on that finish round, however certainly won’t be part of the problem.
The deal isn’t with out danger, although. Atlanta is dropping depth and putting an enormous guess on Younger’s means to mesh with somebody whose utilization is justifiably over 30%. If the 2 can’t co-exist, Brown turns into an unrestricted free agent in 2024 and watching him stroll for nothing could be a catastrophe.
In the meantime, the Celtics are dropping the very best participant in this trade, however gaining flexibility, tradable property and, if Hunter can keep wholesome, one of many NBA’s extra interesting 24-year-old two-way wings. (Hunter had surgical procedure on his proper wrist in early November and two operations on his proper knee final season.) If he hits and turns into the environment friendly 20-plus factors per sport scorer his tantalizing skill-set suggests, it is a grand slam for Boston. If he finally ends up nearer to Justise Winslow than Kawhi Leonard, not a lot.
The 23-year-old Huerter doesn’t have the identical ceiling however isn’t something near a throw-in. He doesn’t want the ball to influence successful and may do sufficient with it to justify main minutes and a constant presence in any offense’s playbook—be it working off screens, playmaking out of a facet pick-and-roll or bullying a mismatch each time opponents assume they’re hiding weaker defenders. Collectively, they’ll create a bit extra space in Boston’s offense and reduce Jayson Tatum’s nightly load. The Celtics’ roster wants dependable rotation gamers. Right here, they get two with upside.
The extra pair of first-round picks is steep however obligatory given the place Brown is in his profession. Atlanta’s personal timeline, coupled with the intriguing prospects already on its roster, makes the lack of future picks extra palatable. The Hawks most likely received’t be selecting in the highest 10 and personal a lottery-protected first from the Thunder in this yr’s draft that may virtually undoubtedly grow to be two second-rounders in 2023 and 2024. Second-round picks from OKC aren’t something to scoff at, particularly in the palms of a Hawks entrance workplace that is aware of how one can mine draft day diamonds.
This trade permits Boston to straddle the fence between respectable and fairly good in the short-term with out relying totally on two younger All-Stars who’ve struggled to elevate all the pieces round them. It’s a rebuild on the fly, with extra prospects and methods to middle future selections round Tatum’s greatest pursuits.
(They may theoretically take part in conversations for somebody like Bradley Beal or Damian Lillard with out pushing each single chip in. The Celtics have all their very own picks, a number of win-now items on agreeable multi-year contracts—Robert Williams, Marcus Good and Josh Richardson) and OK-to-intriguing rookie-scale contributors.)
None of this ensures a brighter future than the one they’ll nonetheless have with Brown and Tatum as dueling All-Star anchors. Wings who defend a number of positions with muscular, twitchy athleticism whereas additionally in a position to effectively rating on a excessive quantity in any respect three ranges don’t seem out of skinny air. In what looks like a previous life, the Celtics held Brown out of negotiations that would’ve introduced again Leonard, Jimmy Butler or Paul George.
However on the similar time any such trade isn’t made solely for the sake of change. It’s a preemptive option to shield themselves in case a crescendo led by their two greatest gamers doesn’t come. To maneuver on from Brown this summer season would say extra about the place the crew sees itself—which is definitely not the place they had been in 2019—than how he has developed since then. He’s glorious. Any indictment should be directed towards Boston’s incapability to encompass him and Tatum with applicable items.
Not all of what’s occurred over the previous two years is that entrance workplace’s fault, however the expertise exodus is actual: Kyrie Irving, Al Horford (briefly, after which reacquired at the price of a first-round choose), Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier to call a couple of. (Within the draft: Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard might be Desmond Bane, Saddiq Bey and Matisse Thybulle. Grant Williams is a keeper.)
In the event that they certainly conclude that surrounding Tatum and Brown with the precise supporting solid isn’t sensible (i.e. one way or the other buying higher shooters and a star-level level guard), the subsequent smartest thing could be to take one step again so two steps ahead might be potential. This deal could try this. In Atlanta, it might signify the huge leap ahead they’ve been ready over 60 years for.
None of that is to say the Celtics and Hawks are totally hopeless and unable to show their seasons round. But when six months from now they’re stumbling by means of the identical wilderness they’re misplaced in right this moment, this trade might be the trail out each have been trying to find.
Extra NBA Protection:
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• The Warriors’ Quest to Obtain What Different Dynasties Could not
• NBA 12 months In Evaluation: The Good, Dangerous and Ugly
