Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown provide reminder of their potential amid Anthony Davis trade speculation

After over two years of planning and preparing for the possibility that Anthony Davis becomes available via trade, it’s a cruel reality for Danny Ainge and his front office that the Celtics are forced to watch and wait until July, hoping that their dream of landing the MVP candidate does not come crashing to a halt before they take their shot.

The odds continue to remain in favor of the Celtics getting a chance to make a bid after the trade deadline. The chatter out of New Orleans over the past 48 hours continues to emphasize that patience is going to be prioritized when handling the future of Davis and maximizing the return for the franchise.

Still, amid all the posturing and leaks from Rich Paul and/or the Lakers that are trying to steer Davis towards Los Angeles, a tough choice has to be decided upon by Ainge over upcoming months and potentially in the next eight days. If things get serious with New Orleans and another suitor ahead of the trade deadline, the Celtics may need to put an offer on the table for Davis with a promise it will be there in July for New Orleans to prevent them from pulling the trigger on a deal now. It’s an unlikely hypothetical given the circumstances and most teams (i.e. the Lakers) don’t have enough assets to force the Celtics’ hands here.

Still, some rivals (Philadelphia) have enough pieces to do it and could have the incentive to make a big addition and block their biggest rivals in the East from landing the best trade asset the league has seen in years.

So, if this situation arises, what exactly is Danny Ainge willing to give up for Davis with the Memphis and Sacramento picks? Jayson Tatum? Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart? Tatum and Brown? All of the above? How much of that group is he willing to commit for a guy who might leave after a year?

Those hypotheticals will need to be sorted out and evaluated over the next week and into the summer. However, Wednesday night provided a valuable reminder of just the type of potential these young players have at their best as Boston cruised to a 126-94 blowout win over the Hornets behind a sensational second half on both ends of the floor without Kyrie Irving (strained hip)

Tatum set the tone in the win, scoring 13 of his 20 points with an efficient first quarter on his way to a 9-of-15 shooting night. The 20-year-old remains the trump card in any trade package the C’s can offer and he has heard that name being thrown around recently upon Davis asking out.

“I mean it’s good to be wanted,” Tatum said of the rumors. “I guess you can say that. But I don’t have any control. Control what I can control, go out there and play.”

Players can respond to rumors in a number of different ways, but the good news for Tatum and company right now is that none of them have to worry about going anywhere in the next eight days. Instead, nights like Wednesday are providing a valuable reminder to the Pelicans that it’s probably worth waiting for the possibility that Tatum is thrown into discussions by Ainge. His mix of inside/outside scoring versatility was unstoppable for stretches against a solid wing defender in Nicolas Batum.

“I mean, my job is to control what I can control,” Tatum said of his mindset. “I mean, I can’t control what happens, so just gotta go out there and focus on today. Just play the game. See what happens.”

While Tatum has done his best to live up to lofty expectations all year long, the bigger development for the Celtics right now from a team and trade value perspective has been the turnaround of Jaylen Brown. The swingman scored a team-high 24 points and added a season-high 10 rebounds, giving him the first 20-10 double-double of his career.

Brown has now scored at least 20 points 10 times over his last 27 games, after failing to do so in any of his first 19 contests this season and over the last four games, he has averaged 19.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting (42.9 percent 3-PT).

“He’s just turned it around,” Terry Rozier said of Brown’s recent play. “And that’s what good players do. There was never a doubt in my mind. He’s just got that freedom of play, he’s got that confidence back. And that’s important, that’s important. Because we’re going to need him for the rest of the season. We’ll need everybody. So it’s good to see him going.”

Brown’s play over the first two months made his trade stock take a dive and some (including myself) wondered whether the Celtics had missed out on their best opportunity to sell high on the 22-year-old in the summer. However, after a move to the bench and getting back to his driving roots, Brown is flashing the upside that helped carry the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. That development is huge for this team in the present as they try to maximize a deep run in the playoffs and perhaps into the summer.

If Brown continues to play at this level, it’s not inconceivable that the Celtics could find a way to make the deal for Davis without Tatum. It would take a lot of other pieces but that has to be a dream scenario for the organization and it only happens if Brown keeps playing like this and regains his blue-chip prospect label. At the least, Brown’s return to form could help the C’s save other assets (i.e. draft picks) that they would have otherwise needed if he didn’t break out of his early slump.

Rozier (17 points, career-high 10 assists against Hornets) factors less into the Davis equation than the others, but his presence still matters. A sign-and-trade hypothetical with the restricted free agent to be is a complicated possibility due to CBA rules for trading free agents but could potentially be worked out as a piece of the puzzle that spares Marcus Smart from being dealt (a big salary will be needed to help match Davis' $21 million contract). For that to happen, Rozier has to be an appealing piece to the Pelicans rebuild and while his struggles over the course of the season are the bigger story right now, his success in a starting role (17.6 ppg on 47 percent shooting over seven games) is a bright spot amid a rough campaign.

Quietly amid the trade rumblings, the Celtics have started to figure things out as a team as well. Wednesday’s win capped off a 10-1 month of January at home and left Boston with seven wins in their last eight games. The consistency that was missing all year long is beginning to show up as well, even though it has not been tested on the road yet, where the struggles have been most apparent (11-13) all year long.

“I’m most encouraged by is we have been on a steady path of progress,” Brad Stevens said. “We’ve had some bumps in the road like that three-game road trip, but I do think that we’ve made progress in a lot of areas and it probably shows in the offensive numbers. The defensive dips aren’t as many and that’s all we’re trying to do. We need to be as consistent as possible, but we need to show great progress. I’m encouraged, but I’m hesitant to be overjoyed until we keep doing it and doing it and doing it all the way through the season.”

Ainge can only hope he has the option to blow this team up this offseason for Davis, but in the meantime, this group can try to show him something to convince them he shouldn’t do it even if he gets the chance. A run to the NBA Finals is probably going to be what it takes, but for the first time in a while, this young core is playing well enough together to show signs that they have the ability to get there, while improving their trade value in the process.

“I think we have a lot of guys who were here last year but it’s a whole new team,” Brown explained. “So it’s a different rhythm, it’s a different environment, and we’re learning. Everybody’s learning, everybody’s adjusting on the fly. And I think we’re doing alright.”