Jaylen Brown’s Top Trade Landing Spots After 2025 NBA Draft
With the first round of the 2025 NBA draft finished, folks around the league must be wondering whether the Boston Celtics are now on the clock.
No, we don't mean they have the first pick of the second round—although they do have the second—but rather that this might be when the cost-cutting process gets accelerated.
Boston already reportedly traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers and then moved Kristaps Porziņģis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that also included the Brooklyn Nets.
In addition, Jaylen Brown has also been targeted by teams.
Their payroll might be outright untenable under the collective bargaining agreement, and it feels especially so when Jayson Tatum's torn Achilles presumably already knocked them out of next season's championship chase.
So, if they want to limit costs, they have several options worth exploring. Brown is owed an absurd amount of money—$236.2 million over the next four seasons—and maybe that's reason enough for Boston to at least gauge his market. Even at that price, he should attract some aggressive suitors.
San Antonio Spurs
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The Spurs have enough assets to chase anyone, and they made their intentions to accelerate clear when they added De'Aaron Fox at the deadline. And with the bulk of this roster playing for rookie-scale money, the time to make another mega-move might be right now.
Adding Brown would give San Antonio a bona fide Big Three with him, Fox and Victor Wembanyama, plus the Spurs' star collection could still expand depending on the development of their other prospects. Brown, a 20-plus point scorer each of the past six seasons, has already shown he can be the second-best player on a championship team, and his two-way ability and big-stage experience could be the keys in San Antonio joining the championship race.
Houston Rockets
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The Rockets already turned heads this offseason with the acquisition of Kevin Durant in a trade with the Phoenix Suns.
They entered the offseason as the most logical team to go star-chasing this summer with a roster almost ready to compete for the crown, a glaring void of the elite talent needed to complete that quest and the asset collection needed to chase said superstar.
Even after getting Durant, the organization is still loaded with assets and ESPN's Brian Windhorst projected the squad would still be "armed and ready" for another major deal.
Brown could be their missing piece. He has not only been a high-end scorer, he also gives the level of defensive intensity that coach Ime Udoka requires. Moreover, Brown has a history with Udoka, who coached the Celtics during the 2021-22 season.
Atlanta Hawks
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The Hawks have been linked to Brown, a Georgia native, for years now. While the development of their young core has perhaps dampened their enthusiasm for a win-right-now target like Brown, it's also possible that those young pieces now give Atlanta an asset collection strong enough to at least seriously consider the possibility.
And since Brown is only two years older than Trae Young, it's not as if he's a totally poor timeline fit for this team. The Hawks might have to ask themselves if a Brown-Young tandem is good enough to break apart their ascending young core, but the wide-open feel of the Eastern Conference could lead them toward answering in the affirmative.
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