If Troy Weaver and the Pistons are eyeing a big move this summer, they might want to call the Celtics. With All-Star Jaylen Brown eligible to sign a near-$300 million supermax extension, Boston might be averse to committing $600-plus million to Brown and Jayson Tatum after the two went another season without delivering the franchise a championship.
Which means Brown might be available via trade. Question is, what would it cost? A whole lot, says Valenti. And it still might not be enough:
"If you want Jaylen Brown, let me outline for you what the ask is. Here’s what it’s going to cost you to get a second-team All-NBA player, allegedly one for the top 20 players in baseball: Cade Cunningham, Bojan Bogdanovic and the No. 5 pick. You may fire back and say, 'We want to keep Cade.' And it's going to be Jaden Ivey, Bogdanovic and the No. 5 pick. So, how bad do you want to add a star?
"You're living in a dream state where you don’t give up Ivey or Cade to get a player of this caliber. Your No. 5 pick is just whatever, because if you were so hyped to use is it, you wouldn’t be trading it. The reality is, I don’t even know if the Celtics would take the trade package you’re offering, because the No. 5 pick is a non-premium asset, Bogdanovic is expiring and it depends on their view of Jaden Ivey."
Would it be worth it for the Pistons? They're in need of a jolt after losing the second most games in franchise history and falling to No. 5 in the draft lottery, and Brown could provide one. The 26-year-old wing just averaged a career-high 26.6 points and 6.9 rebounds (while shooting a career-low 33.5 percent from three) in his seventh NBA season.
"You’d have a Big 3 of Cade, Jalen Brown and Jalen Duren. You’d have a point guard, a wing and a big man," says Valenti. "Jaylen Brown is an All-NBA player. If you have him and Ivey or Cade and Duren, could you get the fourth piece to play with those guys? See, you need to bring someone to town who might get others to come to town."
Then again, "the cost of doing business," says Valenti, is that "you don't have a pick, you don't have an expiring veteran shooter who's a good player and you lose the point guard you just drafted."
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