One well-established NBA writer made his stance clear on the Boston Celtics possibly trading for Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant.
Appearing on the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast on Thursday, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps was firmly against the Celtics giving up Jaylen Brown in an effort to land Durant.
“They have a chance, to me, to be a championship level team for the next five to seven years, assuming that Jaylen re-signs,” Bontemps said. “And I’m not giving that up even to take on Kevin Durant at this point as great as Durant is, given the injury concerns you have, given the age concerns you have, and given the fact that the Celtics already are to me one of three or four best teams in the league.”
Bontemps admitted that the Celtics did need to do their due diligence and call the Nets to see what Durant’s asking price was, however, he feels Boston shouldn’t be anywhere close to putting its finger on the trigger to orchestrate a trade.
Bontemps admires the job Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has already done in constructing the roster. He also believes Boston has two very prized assets they should hang on to, even if it means resisting the urge of getting Durant in a Celtics uniform.
“I’m on the record saying I wouldn’t do this trade if I was the Celtics, which I understand is maybe a minority position,” Bontemps said. “I look at this Celtics team … the most valuable thing you can find in the league right now are young, two-way wing players and the Celtics have built this team around two of them in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. And the thing I’ve appreciated about what Brad Stevens has done since he’s gotten this job last summer, is he has actively tried to build around those two guys, and every move they have made has been in that vein.”
The Nets certainly will be looking for a haul for Durant, but one analyst believes they should ask for even more, which would presumably have the Celtics backing away.
