Since the Utah Jazz hired former Boston Celtics executive Austin Ainge, there has been plenty of speculation and hypothetical trades between the Jazz and Celtics. They could become trade partners this offseason. One Jazz alum believes they need to go for one of Boston's white whales; in this case, Jaylen Brown.
Kyle Collinsworth, who played for the Jazz's G-League affiliate, the SLC Stars during the 2019-20 season, urged the Jazz to trade for Brown on June 2. Collinsworth was very blunt about what he thinks is best for the Jazz.
Brown isn't among the NBA's very best players, but he's not too far off. He would be the best player the Jazz have had on their roster since Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. He and Lauri Markkanen could form quite the duo, which could give Utah their first ray of hope since the Mitchell and Gobert days were at their peak.
Brown has been a winner pretty much throughout his entire NBA career, having made six Eastern Conference Finals. He's not creme de la creme, but it's easy to think he could help instill a winning culture with the Jazz.
Acquiring Brown, an NBA champion and four-time All-Star and counting, wouldn't vault Utah to contender status, but it would be a good step forward. It would signal that the Jazz truly are done messing around. In other words, they're not tanking, and they want to make some progress.
The real question would be as to whether Boston would give the okay on this.
How could the Jazz make that work?
Brown's name has come up in trade rumors recently, but there hasn't been any intel confirming that the Celtics are looking to trade him, like there has been with Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. However, the Celtics are in a bit of a transition at the moment. Depending on their offseason plans, there's a scenario where the Celtics think trading Brown is their best move.
Jayson Tatum will likely miss the entire 2025-26 season after tearing his Achilles. This dramatically lowers Boston's ceiling and raises many questions about the future, specifically whether Tatum will ever return to that level.
That's tough for a team with an expensive roster that has Brown, who is right at the top of his game and on an expensive deal. The Jazz could give the Celtics what they primarily want—saving money—and though Brown would definitely not be Boston's first choice to trade away, if the Celtics think a bit of a retooling is in order, the Jazz suddenly have an appealing offer for Boston.
The No. 5 pick, expiring and nonguaranteed contracts, solid veterans that the Celtics could extend on cost-controlled contracts, and, of course, plenty of draft picks. Boston would certainly be courageous in doing this with what Brown has done for them, but the Jazz would have an offer that would be hard for the Celtics to refuse if they think it's time to make necessary changes.
Austin Ainge promised that Jazz fans would not see a repeat of what they saw this season. It's still to be determined as to whether that means they'll win more games, but acquiring Brown would be an undeniable positive sign.