5 players Blazers could acquire in Lillard deal to stay competitive

No. 2 player Blazers could acquire in Lillard trade: Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown’s reputation took a definite hit in the Eastern Conference Finals — especially in Game 7, the game in which Brown committed eight turnovers and five fouls while scoring 19 points on 8-of-23 shooting. The game and the broader overall series led many to question the long-term viability of Brown as Jayson Tatum’s co-star in Boston.

The Celtics are predictably not overreacting. Brown made second-team All-NBA last season and he remains an undeniably good player. He averaged 26.9 points and 6.9 rebounds on .491/.335/.765 splits for the second-best team in the NBA record-wise. He is flawed, yes, but there is absolutely a path to Brown as a cornerstone piece on a winning team.

Boston has not been mentioned in the early flurry of reporting around Lillard, but the Celtics have been unafraid to get involved in splashy trades before. Lillard is a short-term upgrade over Brown and a better fit for what Boston requires offensively. His pull-up shooting and playmaking ability would mesh beautifully with Tatum as the Celtics’ one-two punch.

If the Celtics decide to push all their chips in, the Blazers would be happy to build the next chapter of Portland basketball around Brown. He’d be well-positioned next to Scoot Henderson, a high-volume playmaker who can put pressure on the rim and empower Brown to focus on his strengths: catch-and-shoot 3s, vicious downhill attacks, and secondary actions. Boston always ran into trouble when Brown was asked to self-create on a regular basis. With Henderson and Simons in the Portland backcourt, that wouldn’t be as much of an issue.