Count Jalen Rose among those who thinks it would be foolish for the Celtics to trade Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant.
On ESPN’s “Get Up!” Tuesday, the highly respected NBA analyst said the Celtics would be making a big mistake if they traded Brown, a budding superstar who’s only 26 years old.
is trading for Durant worth the risk?
“The Boston Celtics, they would be foolish to trade Jaylen Brown at this point of his career,” Rose said. “And [to] break up Jayson Tatum and that duo that a lot of people have been clamoring for them to do the last few years for some odd reason, for Kevin Durant at this point of his career.”
While Rose’s point is well taken, there are convincing arguments in favor of the Celtics swapping Brown for Durant. In the short-term, Durant and Tatum would arguably be the best twosome in the league, and could put the Celtics over the top in their pursuit of an 18th banner.
Though Durant has been out for nearly a month with an MCL sprain, he’s averaging 29.7 points per game this season, and was voted as an All-Star starter.
Still, Rose says he thinks Brown’s upside is too great.
“I’m no fool. I know how dominant and great [Durant] is,” he said. “But at his age, he’s dealt with some injuries over the last couple of years. You don’t trade Jaylen Brown for him if you’re the Celtics.”
Brown is enjoying a career season, averaging 27 points per game to go along with 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported there’s an “interesting development” that’s happened over the last 48 hours in regards to Durant.
Could that “interesting development” involve the Celtics?
Watch this space. The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3:00 p.m.