How do you think we got here with Jaylen Brown?

[michigan adam]

Antetokounmpo, Jokic, SGA, Wembanyama, Doncic, Edwards, Brunson, Tatum, Cunningham, Towns, Maxey, Barnes, Advija, Mitchell, A.Thompson, Haliburton, J.Johnson, Banchero, Holmgren or even Adebayo.

MVP guys or near MVP guys = that first line and a half = just flat out much more valuable on-court than Jaylen = Antetokounmpo, Jokic, SGA, Wembanyama, Doncic, Edwards, Brunson, Tatum, Cunningham.

Young guys = cheaper contract + you are getting 10 plus years out of them versus 5 plus years from Jaylen. So not comparable = Amen Thompson, J.Johnson, Banchero, Holmgren

That leaves Donovan Mitchell, Haliburton & Bam. Haliburton is 26 years old. Younger than Jaylen. Not quite with the young guys. Not as old as D Mitchell, Jaylen, D Booker either. Bam about to turn 29 next month.

So I'd put Jaylen alongside D Mitchell, D Booker, Bam. Does any of those 3 guys get any better offers for them than we are getting for Jaylen? I don't think they do.

I would argue doncic should not be in that top list due to his horrific defense, but my perception is biased.  Doncic is way worse than JB on D but significantly more efficient on O. Otherwise your analysis is right on to me.

[keevsnick]

I think its pretty simple. The Celtics looked at the CBA and said "Its hard to build a contending team when your two best guys are taking up 70% of the cap and neither is an MVP level player. So since Jaylen's value is likely at its highest let's see if we can move him and restructure our team."

They then proceeded to shop him while maintaining a high asking price of 4+ first rounders, because if you aren't going to get a haul for him its not worth taking a step back next season when he still has 3 years left on his deal. As of now it appears there isn't a team willing to bite on that high asking price, but now the issue is Jaylen being shopped has gotten out and clearly it bothers him to some degree.

So the question now becomes: Do the Celtics feel like the relationship is so bad that they will accept 50 cents on the dollar? Or do they go to Jaylen, smooth things over, see what next year looks like and revisit things net summer if a now healthy Brown/Tatum pairing doesn't seem like it's enough?

[Kernewek]

I think its pretty simple. The Celtics looked at the CBA and said "Its hard to build a contending team when your two best guys are taking up 70% of the cap and neither is an MVP level player. So since Jaylen's value is likely at its highest let's see if we can move him and restructure our team."

They then proceeded to shop him while maintaining a high asking price of 4+ first rounders, because if you aren't going to get a haul for him its not worth taking a step back next season when he still has 3 years left on his deal. As of now it appears there isn't a team willing to bite on that high asking price, but now the issue is Jaylen being shopped has gotten out and clearly it bothers him to some degree.

So the question now becomes: Do the Celtics feel like the relationship is so bad that they will accept 50 cents on the dollar? Or do they go to Jaylen, smooth things over, see what next year looks like and revisit things net summer if a now healthy Brown/Tatum pairing doesn't seem like it's enough?

Strong agree. I'd just add that Brown being terminally online doesn't help - we're not even three weeks from the conclusion of the NBA finals and the discourse is already all over free agency & team shakeups. Of course he's going to see all the chatter about him (he's not as self-obsessive as KD, but he's not far off it either).