Jaylen Brown has seen his name floated in a slew of trade rumors and hypotheticals over the past few years.
But if the Celtics swingman stays on his current trajectory, he might be left out of those conversations moving forward.
Brown has shown improvements in each season since Boston took him with the third overall pick in 2016. The 24-year-old is on pace for a career campaign this season, and he's proving he's much, much more than a high-end complementary player to Jayson Tatum.
Brian Windhorst has been quite impressed with what he's seen from Brown this season. So much so that the NBA analyst only would consider trading Brown if it involved acquiring one of a very select group of the league's elite.
"I gotta be honest with you, there are only three or four players in this league right now I would probably trade Jaylen Brown for," Windhorst said Monday on ESPN's "The Jump." "The contract he signed -- while it is a $100 million contract -- is well less than the max, making the Celtics thrilled they got him on that deal. He's arguably one of the most valued dollar-for-dollar players in the league right now."
Brown's current deal is starting to look like thievery by the Celtics. Boston ahead of the 2019-20 season signed Brown to a four-year, $115 million extension, one year and $80 million less than the extension the C's gave Tatum back in November. Tatum's ceiling is higher than Brown's, but the difference in those deals is pretty glaring.
As Brown's stock continues to rise, it seemingly will become tougher for the Celtics to retain him beyond his current contract. As such, Boston needs to capitalize on this window with Brown and Tatum both in the fold.
