Before reaching an agreement to acquire LaMelo Ball from Charlotte, the Timberwolves spoke to the Celtics about a possible Jaylen Brown trade, according to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter links). However, Ball was Minnesota’s preferred target, says O’Connor, while Krawczynski points out that the cost to acquire the point guard was likely a bit more reasonable than what it would’ve taken to get Brown.
Although the Celtics remain engaged in trade discussions about Brown, the star wing hasn’t asked the team to trade him, league sources close to the situation tell Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. Siegel hears that some rival front offices are skeptical that the Celtics will make a deal involving Brown this offseason despite continuing to listen to inquiries.
The Rockets and Pelicans are among the teams that have talked to the Celtics, Siegel adds, noting that Boston is among the teams with interest in New Orleans wing Trey Murphy III.
As for Ball, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk says the Trail Blazers were among the teams pursuing the star point guard before the Hornets agreed to send him to the Timberwolves.
We have more trade chatter from around the NBA:
- Appearing on 850 ESPN Cleveland (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst of ESPN suggested that the Lakers would have serious interest in discussing a sign-and-trade deal that sends LeBron James to the Cavaliers and center Jarrett Allen to Los Angeles (hat tip to RealGM). While the concept, which Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report previously outlined, would be a way to get James back to Cleveland on a contract worth well above the minimum, there would be several hurdles to clear. The Cavs would be hard-capped at the first apron if they acquire a player via sign-and-trade, so they’d have to send out significant salary in such a move. Additionally, it’s not clear if they’d be willing to part with Allen for a 41-year-old James — or if LeBron is even interested in reuniting with the Cavs.
- In another ESPN Radio appearance on the Unsportsmanlike show (Twitter video link), Windhorst referred to Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant as “flagrantly available” but said the extra year left on the point guard’s contract beyond 2026/27 has significantly limited his market. “They are highly motivated to trade him, but the two years on the contract make it very difficult,” Windhorst said. “Because I don’t think a team’s going to give value. I think a team’s going to want to receive value to take on that risk. I don’t know how it’s going to work out, but I just can’t see him playing for the Grizzlies again.
- The Pistons appeared to have genuine interest in making a play for Austin Reaves. That gave him the leverage to get a more lucrative offer for the Lakers, whose initial proposal was believed to be in the range of $30MM per year, Windhorst said on First Take on Thursday morning (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM). With Reaves off the board, Detroit continues to express trade interest in Tyler Herro, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Herro is being sent from Miami to Milwaukee in the Giannis Antetokounmpo and it remains to be seen whether the Bucks will keep him or flip him to a new team.
