Adding Kevin Durant would cement the Celtics’ status as title favorites

The Celtics reportedly offered Jaylen Brown in a trade offer for KD.

The Boston Celtics aren’t resting on their laurels. The reigning Eastern Conference champions have reportedly made an offer to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant, and they’ve emerged as a “serious possibility” to land the two-time Finals MVP, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The deal, if executed, would make it hard to put another team ahead of Boston in the conversation for 2023 title favorite. As constructed, the Celtics already have +450 odds at most sportsbooks to win it all, the shortest of any team. Tipico Sportsbook moved them into a tie with the Phoenix Suns at +550 after they traded for Malcolm Brogdon in early July — and that was when the Suns were thought to be favorites to land Durant, which no longer seems plausible.

Now, it’s the Celtics in talks with Brooklyn. They reportedly offered a package centered around Jaylen Brown, who appeared to respond to the rumors on Twitter. And though it was rejected, the Nets’ asking price wouldn’t change Boston’s status as the unquestioned favorite if they found a way to come to an agreement.

According to Charania, the Celtics offered Brown and Derrick White, and the Nets asked for proposals that included Brown, Marcus Smart, draft picks and potentially one more rotation player. If the goal is to win championships, and that’s all it takes, the Celtics have to find a way to make that happen.

As unfortunate as it would be to lose home-grown talents like Brown and Smart, replacing them with Durant and Brogdon represents a significant upgrade overall. However marginal the difference between Smart and Brogdon, the gap between Durant and Brown swings the trade in Boston’s favor and even makes up for whatever extra rotation player they might have to part with.

Even if they have to lose the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Boston would remain very good defensively. And Durant-Jayson Tatum would be an elite duo that any team would find difficult to stop. Now might be a good time to hammer Boston’s odds, before they grow any shorter.

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Jaylen Brown seemingly responds to trade rumors with a simple tweet

Jaylen Brown appears to have heard the latest trade rumors, and let his feelings known with a simple tweet.

Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown is no stranger to trade rumors. Since Brown was drafted by the team back in 2016, his name has offered in possible packages for all sorts of players, from Kawhi Leonard to Kevin Love.

The latest buzz is that the Celtics and Nets have discussed a deal with Jaylen Brown and Kevin Durant as the centerpieces. The week started with a flurry of news, reports, speculation, and gossip, and it appears Brown is fully aware of the circus this sort news cycle typically brings.

Brown tweeted out “shaking my head,” presumably in response to this latest round of trade speculation.

Whether or not a Brown-Durant deal actually makes sense for Boston is another story entirely. Earlier in the offseason, Brown made some noise by “liking” a tweet suggesting he was disrespected by Celtics fans. Expect some more cryptic silliness across the NBA landscape until the dust settles on this one.

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Jaylen Brown appeared to have a three-letter response to Kevin Durant, Celtics trade rumors

This could turn ugly for the Celtics if they don’t trade for KD.

The Kevin Durant trade rumors have taken quite a turn on Monday.

And it may lead to a disastrous turn for the Boston Celtics.

There were multiple reports on Monday that the defending Eastern Conference champs were “engaged” — per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski — in a potential deal with Boston involving KD.

Jaylen Brown would potentially be part of the exchange, which would make sense, the kind of stud that would help the Nets rebound a bit from trading a top-three player.

But … what if this deal doesn’t happen? How would Brown feel about returning to a team that reportedly thought about trading him?

It appears we have an answer. Amidst the trade talk, Brown tweeted this on Monday:

Yep. As in, “shaking my head.” As in, if this is what he’s referring to, this could turn ugly if it all goes very wrong and Boston doesn’t end up with Durant.

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Taking a closer look at the rumored Boston Celtics interest in Kevin Durant

Reading between the lines in such a charged situation isn’t easy.

The Boston Celtics are reportedly in the mix to trade for Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant, according to multiple reports from widely trusted sources. As fans of the team awake to the news that dropped late on a Sunday night, the bombshell report is quite a lot for fans to take in, and for good reason.

Dealing for KD would entail — in fact DOES entail — trading large parts of a team’s core that came within two games of winning the 2022 NBA title. That includes an offer that has been reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania to include forward Jaylen Brown, a beloved player to fans. It will likely also include much if not all of the team’s moveable draft assets for a player who may be past their prime, and one who has not had the best injury luck in recent seasons.

But Durant may still be the most potent offensive weapon in the league despite the dings and encroachments of Father Time. What should we think about this news so violently disrupting the so-called doldrums of summer?

Reports: Boston Celtics in mix for possible Kevin Durant trade

A new report suggests the Celtics are firmly in the mix for a possible Kevin Durant deal. But is Jaylen Brown really available?

The Boston Celtics are reportedly among teams pursuing a possible deal to reel in superstar Kevin Durant. According to the Athletic’s Shams Charania, initially offered the Brooklyn Nets a package of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and a draft pick. The Nets countered, asking for Brown, Marcus Smart, and more draft capital.

No deal is imminent, but the Celtics have “tremendous interest” in bringing Durant to Boston, per Charania. Current President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens was head coach when Durant almost joined the Celtics outright in free agency in 2016.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Celtics have been “in regular contact with the Nets,” joining other suitors such as the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat. Fans will no doubt recall that it was a blockbuster deal between Boston and Brooklyn almost a decade ago that ultimately put this current Celtics core together.

Nets received trade offer for Kevin Durant from Celtics, focus on Jaylen Brown

The Boston Celtics have made a trade offer to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant that is focused on Jaylen Brown.

Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets back on June 30 right before free agency was set to begin in the NBA. The news sent shockwaves throughout the league as many were surprised that Durant had requested a trade after signing an extension.

While the Nets continue to wait for the right trade to move the future Hall of Famer, they received an offer from a heated rival in the Boston Celtics. The Nets were just swept out of the playoffs by the Celtics, who made a run to the NBA Finals, and now they are inquiring around Durant.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and The Stadium, the focus of the trade offer is All-Star Jaylen Brown:

The Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat remain among the teams in pursuit — and the Boston Celtics recently offered a package around one-time All-Star Jaylen Brown for Durant and have emerged as a real threat to acquire Durant, league sources tell The Athletic.

The Celtics offered Brown, guard Derrick White and a draft pick to the Nets for Durant, sources said. The proposal was rejected, and Brooklyn has asked Boston — in any proposal — to include Brown, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, draft picks and potentially one more rotation player, those sources added. Currently, the Celtics are less inclined to include Smart along with multiple other player or pick assets, but the franchise is mulling over next steps on how to approach discussions.

As of right now, the Celtics have emerged as a serious possibility as a landing spot for Durant.

Brown would be the type of player Brooklyn could accept in return for Durant and it would be interesting to see how he fits on this team, but for now, Durant remains a member of the Nets.

In all seriousness, if Brooklyn doesn’t receive the type of offer that really blows them away, then they should just bring him and Kyrie Irving back and try again with a healthy roster. The 2021-22 season was a disaster, but with most of the obstacles gone, this is a strong roster on paper.

This post originally appeared on Nets Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Boston’s Jaylen Brown using unorthodox offseason training technique

One could say it’s a great way to beat the heat in more than one sense.

When the NBA offseason arrives in earnest, each team’s players get to work on their bodies, and oftentimes turn to unorthodox training methods they might otherwise not use during the regular season. Such is the case with star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who has been getting in some reps in a most unusual manner.

The Celtics’ official team account shared a clip of the Georgia native hard at work training, which in and of itself is pretty run of the mill as far as what one usually sees from players. But Brown is hard at work training his body underwater, using the medium to add a novel approach to offseason conditioning.

Check out the clip for yourself in the tweet embedded below.

While we don’t expect the 2023 NBA Finals to be played at the bottom of a pool, we expect the body and breath control such an approach might require to be another tool in the toolkit to push his game even higher.

Follow us on Facebook and check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

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Projecting the Boston Celtics’ depth in the 2022-23 NBA season

This is our projection of the Celtics’ depth for the 2022-23 season, barring any late surprises.

The Boston Celtics are nearly finished making moves to complete the roster they hope will be able to compete for the 2023 NBA Championship in their quest for an NBA-record 18th banner. And barring perhaps tracking down a backup big man to help spell Robert Williams III and Al Horford, the vast majority of the players if not all of them have already been added to the team.

With that much done in the Celtics’ 2022 offseason, we can start to see how the team’s rotation will shape up. With that in mind, we put together a rough breakdown of how we envision the team’s depth to look come opening night barring the abovementioned potential big man addition.

Let’s take a look at the Celtics’ depth — and if you see a player more than once, keep in mind this team was built to be positionally flexible.

Celtics’ projected depth chart with Malcolm Brogdon, Danillo Gallinari

The Boston Celtics come off their 22nd Finals appearance looking to avenge their defeat in six games to Golden State. After having a firm grip on the series up 2-1, the Celtics would go on to lose the series when they could not generate enough …

The Boston Celtics come off their 22nd Finals appearance looking to avenge their defeat in six games to Golden State. After having a firm grip on the series up 2-1, the Celtics would go on to lose the series when they could not generate enough offense to overcome Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

In acquiring Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari, the Celtics have increased their firepower and hopefully taken some of the scoring burden off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are expected to take another step toward becoming one of the best duos in the NBA. Their supporting cast will need to figure out how to help them get over the hump by being more consistent.

Celtics’ projected depth chart with Malcolm Brogdon, Danillo Gallinari

The Boston Celtics come off their 22nd Finals appearance looking to avenge their defeat in six games to Golden State. After having a firm grip on the series up 2-1, the Celtics would go on to lose the series when they could not generate enough offense to overcome Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

In acquiring Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari, the Celtics have increased their firepower and hopefully taken some of the scoring burden off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are expected to take another step toward becoming one of the best duos in the NBA. Their supporting cast will need to figure out how to help them get over the hump by being more consistent.