One of the early messages in this thread included as a positive the fact that the Celtics would have the luxury to keep Young on the bench in close big games because they still theoretically would have White, Brown and Tatum. This is the exact fact detailing why the Hawks are reluctant to give him a max extension and why I would be so opposed to bringing him to Boston. Under the new realities, it is going to be hard to build a contending team if you are paying $25-30 million to a one way player. This, incidentally, is why I do not see Simons as a long term piece unless he takes a salary around $12 million. It is also I believe why Brooklyn has not reached a deal with Cam Thomas, Chicago has not reached a deal with Josh Giddey and part of why Kuminga has not landed a deal. Paying $45-60 mil a year (and that is what Trae wants) for a player you may have to take off the court in playoff games because he is so deficient at one end is certain to kill your chances at winning a title. This is especially so if you have four players making 120% of the salary cap. It is possible to pay that much to four guys and still compete if you have a couple of nice really cheap deals but those four had better be two way players. That was what was great about the Celtics group of the last two years: the top six guys contributed on both ends. So you almost never had one getting played off the court - Al sometimes because of age but he had been an elite defensive player and so could still draw on that knowledge and experience and stand up on D more often than not. And that is what the Celtics should be looking for. Not a one way offensive star. And Young is absolutely a superstar on offense. It might be possible to build a contending team around him. But it is not this Celtics team if they are planning to keep Tatum, Brown and White.
As said by others the only realistic Trae trade would have to involve Brown. I do not think such a trade would work because both teams likely would (reasonably from their respective perspectives) believe the other team should give up additional assets. Personally, I would not give up Jaylen for Trae straight up, much less if asked to attach a pick. And that is from the perspective of a Celtics fan who likes Jaylen a lot - especially as a person - but thinks he is pretty significantly overpaid and that the Celtics probably will not win another title with 70% of the cap tied up in him and Tatum. I hope they do but I think the Celtics need to trade Jaylen to build up another contender. I just would not do it for Trae Young.
