NBA Trade Rumors: Celtics & Hawks Talk Jaylen Brown Trade

The Boston Celtics were the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference this season. But after their shocking first-round exit in the playoffs, they'll be heading back to the drawing board this offseason. We had a look last week at three players who won't be back in Beantown next season, but could we soon be adding Jaylen Brown to that list??

The latest rumor surrounding the five-time All-Star has the Atlanta Hawks linked to the Celtics in trade talks to try to acquire him. The Hawks had some conversations with Boston about Brown last offseason, and while Atlanta wasn't ready to go all-in at that time, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Atlanta has a new mindset these days and those talks could resume this summer.

I wrote this week about the Atlanta Hawks. Jaylen is a Georgia native... That's a team, given what happened this season, that I could see getting interested in Jaylen Brown.

'What happened this season' in Atlanta, is they finally ripped off the bandage and traded Trae Young. The Hawks found out, when Young was out of the lineup for several weeks earlier in the season, that they were a much better team, especially defensively, when they turned over the keys to the franchise to rising superstar Jalen Johnson. He finished the year with 22.5 points per game, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists and Atlanta shot up to the 6-seed in the East, at 46-36. They were 2-8 with Young. Which means they were 44-28 without him.

Imagine adding Brown to a lineup with Johnson and some of the other excellent pieces they've added in the past couple of years. The Hawks are a team on the rise.

But as Mannix adds, the Celtics don't really have to do anything. They won 56 games, they'll have the Brown/Jayson Tatum duo together again for a full season next year, and they might have what it takes already to be one of the favorites in the East again (provided they find a center, of which we provided five names they could consider).

But the Hawks are going to be active this offseason, and while they'll probably also take a crack at landing Giannis Antetokounmpo, a Jaylen Brown offer could be coming as well.