7 potential Jaylen Brown trade packages (and a final ranking)

As soon as the Boston Celtics lost out on Giannis Antetokounmpo, they were thrown into an awkward position. Jaylen Brown was very publicly thrown into the trade world, and now, it feels as though there's no going back.

Rumors have come from every corner of the saga. Brown wants to stay in Boston. Brown wants to leave. The Celtics are looking for a hefty package. The Celtics would be open to bringing him back.

But the one side of the story that has seemingly never been reported? The Celtics aren't shopping Brown.

At this point, it's painfully clear that Boston is doing just that. Brown is, at the very least, available in trade talks. And by now, it feels as though a deal is inevitable.

On Sunday morning, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype revealed six teams interested in a Brown trade: The Portland Trail Blazers, the Toronto Raptors, the LA Clippers, the Brooklyn Nets, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Denver Nuggets.

Let's walk through what a deal could look like with each of those six teams. (Also note that someone like Sam Hauser or Jordan Walsh could easily be thrown into one of these trades. I'm just focused on the return package of it all, though.)

**Keep in mind, the hardest part of all of this is identifying how many draft picks teams would be willing to give up. So in most of these deals, you could give or take a first.**

Portland Trail Blazers

By all accounts, it seems as though the Portland Trail Blazers are the leaders in the Brown clubhouse. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported as much on Friday night.

Brian Robb of MassLive noted that it's unlikely Donovan Clingan would be in a deal, as Portland values him highly. Toumani Camara is another name the Blazers would like to keep out of trade conversations, per Robb.

This is what I believe a realistic deal with the Blazers would look like:

Celtics receive: Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Jerami Grant, 2028 first (swap with MIL), 2028 first (via ORL), 2029 first (swap with MIL), 2029 first (via BOS)

Blazers receive: Jaylen Brown

In this deal, the Celtics would get the reported four first-round picks they want, and the Blazers wouldn't have to cough up any of their own first-rounders.

The Blazers would also get to keep Clingan and Camara -- both of whom the Celtics should target.

Portland radio host Danny Marang recently put it out there that he has heard that the Blazers are likely to keep Deni Avdija, Clingan, and Camara out of trade talks for Brown. However, he did also note that "any/all draft capital" could potentially be included.

This deal would give the Celtics an intriguing wing scorer on a solid contract (Shaedon Sharpe), a fun project piece at point guard (Scoot Henderson), and a role player who could also act as a matching salary in another trade (Jerami Grant).

It's not perfect, but at this point, it feels like most trades won't be.

Toronto Raptors

Led by Scottie Barnes, the Raptors clearly want to win. They have found themselves in the mix of Kawhi Leonard rumors, too. It's obvious they want an upgrade.

The tricky part about a potential Toronto trade is that the salary coming back may not be ideal. Brandon Ingram will make $40 million next year, Jakob Poeltl will make $19.5 million (and it only goes up for two more seasons after that), and Immanuel Quickley will make $32.5 million for the next three years.

Here's my prediction for a realistic Raptors deal:

Celtics receive: RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, Jamal Shead, 2027 first, 2030 first, 2028 first (swap), 2031 first (swap)

Raptors receive: Jaylen Brown

Taking on the Poeltl contract would be tough, but that's why the Celtics could probably push for Jamal Shead's inclusion, as well as additional draft compensation.

The real prize in a Raptors deal would be Collin Murray-Boyles. It would be the equivalent of trying to pry Clingan away from the Blazers, though Murray-Boyles may be a bit more gettable.

In an ideal world, he would be thrown into the mix instead of (or on top of) Shead.

Again, though, the brutal reality with a Toronto deal would be the financially necessary inclusion of one of Poeltl, Quickley, or Ingram's contracts.

LA Clippers

This is, in my opinion, by far the least likely deal of the six teams Scotto mentioned.

The only legitimate pathway to get a deal done would be to accept a Brown-for-Leonard swap. LA barely has any draft picks to give up.

It would probably look something like this:

Celtics receive: Kawhi Leonard, 2031 first, 2033 first

Clippers receive: Jaylen Brown

At that point, the Celtics should just find a team with more picks and better draft capital. Leonard is 34 years old. If Boston is going to trade Brown, it needs to think about sustainability at least a little bit.

Brooklyn Nets

This is quietly one of the more intriguing teams that could get involved, primarily because of how many draft picks the Nets have.

Brooklyn owns a ton of New York Knicks picks, as well as a Nuggets pick in 2032. Plus, Michael Porter Jr. had an All-Star case last year, and he's on an expiring contract.

Here's an outline of a potential trade:

Celtics receive: