The idea of including Jaylen Brown in a deal for James Harden has been increasingly tougher to digest considering how well the Celtics' shooting guard has played this season.
But Harden is Harden, and the Celtics are still sitting in that good-but-not-great realm of the Eastern Conference.
It's why it seems Danny Ainge hasn't entirely pulled the plug on exploring a trade for one of the NBA's best scorers.
Wrote ESPN's Brian Windhorst: “It is not a coincidence that a number of teams such as the Celtics, 76ers, Heat, Nets and Raptors — teams that are in the “good not great” zone — have at least made a courtesy call to the Rockets, sources said,” Windhorst wrote Thursday. “Even the Bucks, sources said, at least had an internal conversation about it and ran it past Giannis Antetokounmpo before deciding not to get involved. They had to; with the current landscape, Harden’s eventual destination is on the mind of everyone in this tightly packed race.”
Despite entering the season seemingly somewhat out of shape, Harden has looked like his old self, averaging 37 points and 11 assists a game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field.
It's still difficult to imagine Ainge moving on from Brown, who is seemingly emerging into another level of the NBA elite. The 24-year-old is averaging 27.5 points per game while supplying much-needed exterior defense.
The Celtics are one of the teams Harden has identified as destination he would accept trades to.