Grade the Trade: Can Hawks flip Trae Young to Celtics for Jaylen Brown?

Grade the Trade: Can Hawks flip Trae Young to Celtics for Jaylen Brown?: Boston Celtics grade

When the Celtics were down 0-3, the sky was falling. The Jaylen Brown trade rumblings began to seriously ramp up. And once they brought the series back, everything was fine again.

But Brown’s putrid performance in Game 7 will undoubtedly reignite the discussions of a potential trade. He was a net negative in a game where the Celtics’ season was on the line.

Financially, the Celtics would be seriously restricted, and even though Trae Young also makes a ton of money, it would still be significantly less than what Brown would get.

Boston already had Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon at the guard position, but Young’s ability to run the offense would top them all. (Plus, they’d be giving up Brogdon in this mock trade.)

AJ Griffin would give them a nice project to work with on the wing, and Onyeka Okongwu would give them some great center depth. Al Horford is only getting older, and Robert Williams can’t stay on the court.

All that being said, this trade would seriously hurt Boston’s defense. Young is a complete liability on that side of the ball, and while he could improve the Celtics’ offense, that’s not their concern.

Brogdon and Smart took a few minutes after their Game 7 loss to discuss how Boston’s defensive dips this year hurt them, as they focused too much on offense.

This trade would be a step backward in that regard.

Plus, if the Celtics are trading Brown, they would likely want to package him and other assets in an attempt to get a better player. And at this point, Brown is probably better than Young.

Trade grade for the Celtics: C-