Crazy yet sane trade idea

[Ed Monix]

*I know this ain't happening but there is some rationality behind this idea.

- Pistons trade down from the first pick to the second or third and collect future assets.

Pistons: Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Rob Williams III, 2 future Celtics 1st round picks

Celtics: (2nd or 3rd pick) Evan Mobley, Killian Hayes, Corey Joseph (expiring cap filler)

- Pistons ownership have been adamant in the past that the team needs to compete to fill new stadium, if they don't believe in Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green being future superstars getting Brown and Smart will make them immediately competitive and Brown is locked in long term.

Williams III, Grant, Brown, Bey, Smart is a solid foundation to build a competitive team on.

Celtics understand that perhaps Tatum & Brown are redundant in their abilities and are both too iso heavy together, with Mobley you could have someone who can compensate for any weaknesses of Tatum's and has the perfect role model in Horford. Hayes still has lots of potential and is cost controlled, he can play off the ball and is a potential elite passer we are sorely lacking in.

The another huge plus for this trade is that by moving off Brown and Smart's salaries we would have enough room to sign Bradley Beal in 2022 as Horford's last year under contract is only partially guaranteed (14.5 mil).

2022 Boston Celtics: Horford, Mobley, Tatum, Beal, Hayes

[gouki88]

Why would Detroit do this? A young shiny #1 pick has more fan appeal than someone like Jaylen does. Smart and TimeLord also have little value given their contract situation, let alone squeezing Killian Hayes out of them too.

I don't think this makes sense for either team. We're trying to build a winning culture, not reset and go back to being a losing team. Which is what we'd be with a starting lineup of Horford-Mobley-Tatum-?-Hayes

[liam]

Why would Detroit do this? A young shiny #1 pick has more fan appeal than someone like Jaylen does. Smart and TimeLord also have little value given their contract situation, let alone squeezing Killian Hayes out of them too.

I don't think this makes sense for either team. We're trying to build a winning culture, not reset and go back to being a losing team. Which is what we'd be with a starting lineup of Horford-Mobley-Tatum-?-Hayes

Why would Boston do this? It's a move backward. Boston gives up the best player in the deal.

[Ed Monix]

Why would Detroit do this? A young shiny #1 pick has more fan appeal than someone like Jaylen does. Smart and TimeLord also have little value given their contract situation, let alone squeezing Killian Hayes out of them too.

I don't think this makes sense for either team. We're trying to build a winning culture, not reset and go back to being a losing team. Which is what we'd be with a starting lineup of Horford-Mobley-Tatum-?-Hayes

I know it's crazy but there are reasons for Detroit to do it.

By trading down from 1 to hypothetically 2 with Rockets, you can do a pick swap in 2022 or 2023 in which Houston still will be in the bottom tier of the standings and a good shot of getting another top pick.

Cade Cunningham has some red flags, his turnover rate is 4.0 to an assist rate of 3.5 and isn't an elite athlete.

Brown is someone who has essentially played second or third fiddle during his whole Celtics career and by going to Detroit as the go to scorer Brown could make yet another huge leap from his 24 ppg and into a true top 20 guy.

[gouki88]

Why would Detroit do this? A young shiny #1 pick has more fan appeal than someone like Jaylen does. Smart and TimeLord also have little value given their contract situation, let alone squeezing Killian Hayes out of them too.

I don't think this makes sense for either team. We're trying to build a winning culture, not reset and go back to being a losing team. Which is what we'd be with a starting lineup of Horford-Mobley-Tatum-?-Hayes

Why would Boston do this? It's a move backward. Boston gives up the best player in the deal.

Yeah, that was sort of what I was getting at with the second half of my post. Think it's not in the interest of either

[Ed Monix]

Why would Detroit do this? A young shiny #1 pick has more fan appeal than someone like Jaylen does. Smart and TimeLord also have little value given their contract situation, let alone squeezing Killian Hayes out of them too.

I don't think this makes sense for either team. We're trying to build a winning culture, not reset and go back to being a losing team. Which is what we'd be with a starting lineup of Horford-Mobley-Tatum-?-Hayes

Why would Boston do this? It's a move backward. Boston gives up the best player in the deal.

Like I stated in the original post, it's for cap flexibility and in Mobley's potential. Mobley is great at everything that Tatum isn't and has the potential to be an Anthony Davis like talent. The league looks to be going big and it's the Celtics achilles heal, it lost us the series against the Heat with Bam Adebayo last season and Durant slaughtered us this playoffs because no one can guard him. There is Jokic, Embiid, Davis, Giannis, Durant, Bam, Ayton and Towns, all dominant bigs who we have no answer for... Mobley can be our answer. By opening up cap space we would probably have the best chance at signing a free agent Bradley Beal in 2022.

[gouki88]

Why would Detroit do this? A young shiny #1 pick has more fan appeal than someone like Jaylen does. Smart and TimeLord also have little value given their contract situation, let alone squeezing Killian Hayes out of them too.

I don't think this makes sense for either team. We're trying to build a winning culture, not reset and go back to being a losing team. Which is what we'd be with a starting lineup of Horford-Mobley-Tatum-?-Hayes

Why would Boston do this? It's a move backward. Boston gives up the best player in the deal.

Like I stated in the original post, it's for cap flexibility and in Mobley's potential. Mobley is great at everything that Tatum isn't and has the potential to be an Anthony Davis like talent. The league looks to be going big and it's the Celtics achilles heal, it lost us the series against the Heat with Bam Adebayo last season and Durant slaughtered us this playoffs because no one can guard him. There is Jokic, Embiid, Davis, Giannis, Durant, Bam, Ayton and Towns, all dominant bigs who we have no answer for... Mobley can be our answer. By opening up cap space we would probably have the best chance at signing a free agent Bradley Beal in 2022.

Mobley has also never played a single NBA minute in his life, and was overpowered by numerous college bigs. Relying upon him to be the answer is not wise - Anthony Davis was one of the best college defenders of all time, Mobley is not at that level (despite being good). It's pretty unusual for teams in a good position, like we are, to trade away a bona fide All-Star talent on a good contract in hope of the chance Mobley is better than Brown is realised.

Al Horford will also be 37 by the time we can sign Beal. If he's starting then we are in a terrible position.

Why are we interested in cap flexibility (which can be gained by giving Fournier a short-term deal / letting him walk) when we've been on the cusp of the Finals pretty often in the last 5 years?

[Roy H.]

There’s a decent probability that we give up the three best players in this trade, plus two #1s.

[Ed Monix]

Literally my first sentence was 'I know this ain't happening' lol...this is a forum to bounce ideas around and critique them.

One concept from this idea is that Tatum and Brown are too similar, something people continue to gloss over. My main fear is that Portland's current predicament is our future, gouki88 alluded to why make a drastic change if the Celtics have been on the cusp for the last 5 years? The cusp is our issue, the Celtics aren't a cusp franchise. The team over achieved in a weak conference over the last few years but the East has caught up on the West. The Nets & Bucks are better then us now, the Heat will get stronger as will the Hawks and if the 76ers can get Lillard they too will be surpass the Celtics.

In 1996, Jerry West traded a prime Vlade Divac for a high schooler in Kobe Bryant. At the time Divac was putting up All-Star numbers but wasn’t selected only because he was up against David Robinson & Hakeem Olajuwon in the West. The Lakers could have played it safe and said Divac is the best player in the trade but if they did, they don't get Kobe and obviously Shaquille O'Neal never signs as a free agent. That risky trade swung the Lakers 5 championships in a 10 year window.

[gouki88]

Literally my first sentence was 'I know this ain't happening' lol...this is a forum to bounce ideas around and critique them.

One concept from this idea is that Tatum and Brown are too similar, something people continue to gloss over. My main fear is that Portland's current predicament is our future, gouki88 alluded to why make a drastic change if the Celtics have been on the cusp for the last 5 years? The cusp is our issue, the Celtics aren't a cusp franchise. The team over achieved in a weak conference over the last few years but the East has caught up on the West. The Nets & Bucks are better then us now, the Heat will get stronger as will the Hawks and if the 76ers can get Lillard they too will be surpass the Celtics.

In 1996, Jerry West traded a prime Vlade Divac for a high schooler in Kobe Bryant. At the time Divac was putting up All-Star numbers but wasn’t selected only because he was up against David Robinson & Hakeem Olajuwon in the West. The Lakers could have played it safe and said Divac is the best player in the trade but if they did, they don't get Kobe and obviously Shaquille O'Neal never signs as a free agent. That risky trade swung the Lakers 5 championships in a 10 year window.

I just don't think there's any evidence of redundancy with Brown and Tatum. They've only ever grown alongside one another, despite constant turbulence surrounding them. I don't get it, simply.

Once there's any actual evidence of Brown and Tatum stunting one another or getting in the way of each other then this kind of thing might be worth considering. But so far, with Tatum and Brown as the #1 and #2 options, they've put up back-to-back career years. We should be building around that, not tearing it down. Tim Duncan and David Robinson worked well together

[Csfan1984]

That's a huge overpay for potential. Also why would the Pistons want Brown when they can have Cade at cheaper money? Remember Smart and Williams will be up soon so it puts them in a weird position in a playoff run window. Pistons need to be rebuilding with Hayes, Cade, Bey, Sekou, Stew

Pistons should be thinking of the 7th pick. They could easily flip Grant and Plum for 7 and a future pick.

Pistons should learn from the Celtics, mixing 3-4 vets with 8 to 10 very young guys creates too much team tension. Be a rebuilding team or go hard at the playoffs with vets.

[A Future of Stevens]

There’s a decent probability that we give up the three best players in this trade, plus two #1s.

Roy on point.

Edit: TP to the OP for atleast being realistic of the kind of package it would take to trade up for 2 or 3 cold turkey. I just don't think it's great for Boston for the reasons stated above.

[ETNCeltics]

Brown is 24 years old, and has improved every season since he was drafted. I believe most of us think JT is going to become a perennial first team all nba player, and by the same token, I think many of us believe JB will become a perennial all star who will be an all nba 3rd team level of player. On top of that, JB is signed for 3 years at a reasonable #.

IOW, he's virtually untradeable. The only draft pick you'd consider trading him for is Cade Cunningham. Anything less and you're trading a dollar for some change. This is a perimeter league now, redundancy with JT is irrelevant. Unless JT & JB cannot coexist in the same locker room and you're forced to unload him, you're only trading him for another high level player, and only then if the contract situation is favorable. 

[Moranis]

there is nothing really sane about that trade.  It just isn't good for Boston at all.

[Ed Monix]

Interesting statistic for Evan Mobley; for all big men that have been drafted over the last 20 years, Mobley has the lowest foul rate per 40 min (1.9)…the previous lowest was Anthony Davis.