NBA Rumors: Celtics, Raptors Could Explore Jaylen Brown-For-Marc Gasol Deal Before February Trade Deadline
When Kyrie Irving left in the 2019 NBA free agency, most people see Jaylen Brown as one of the cornerstones of the next title-contending team that the Boston Celtics will try to build. Brown has shown lots of superstar potentials from the time he set foot in the NBA. In the 2017-18 NBA season, he’s one of the young players who stepped up and led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals despite not having Irving and Gordon Hayward on their roster.
Unfortunately, as of now, the Celtics are yet to decide whether they will give Jaylen Brown a massive contract extension or not. According to Sean Deveney of Heavy, there’s a “pretty slim” chance that Brown and the Celtics won’t be reaching an agreement regarding a contract extension before the October 21 deadline. If the Celtics don’t have any plan of giving Brown a huge payday, it will be best for them to trade him for players who could boost their chance of fully dominating the Eastern Conference and contending for the NBA championship title in the 2019-20 NBA season.
One of the potential trade partners for the Celtics in a deal involving Jaylen Brown is the reigning NBA champions, the Toronto Raptors. According to Fadeaway World, the Celtics could explore trading Brown to the Raptors in exchange for veteran center Marc Gasol.
“Trading for Jaylen Brown would make a lot of sense for Raptors as it would give them another young player to pair alongside Pascal and would speed up the rebuild. The trade would more than likely be centered around Marc Gasol as the Celtics are currently in desperate need for a big man. For the Raptors, you would be getting a great young player alongside Pascal to hopefully speed up a potential rebuild and a player who would help your team return to contention.”
Jaylen Brown chopped off the Flat Top ?
(via dripdabarber_/IG) pic.twitter.com/8aqkvBbPHg
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) September 26, 2019
Trading Marc Gasol for Jaylen Brown is a no-brainer for the Raptors, especially if they already decide to undergo a rebuilding process. Brown would give the Raptors a young and promising talent that perfectly fits the timeline of Pascal Siakam, who’s expected to be the centerpiece of Toronto’s next championship core.
Meanwhile, the potential acquisition of Marc Gasol would make the Celtics more competitive in the upcoming 2019-20 NBA season. The Celtics may already have Enes Kanter, but he isn’t capable of filling the void Al Horford left on the defensive end of the floor. Aside from being a quality rim protector, Gasol could also improve the Celtics’ floor spacing.
