The sports rumor breaking the internet today is that the Boston Celtics offered a package including Jaylen Brown to the Nets for Kevin Durant. Brooklyn said no to the original proposal but did make a counter-offer, per Shams Charania. The SportsLine Projection Model ran sims on the 2022-23 Celtics as if they traded Brown, Marcus Smart (Brooklyn specifically asked for him via Chams) and Derrick White for KD, and their championship odds jumped nearly 16 percent.
Durant requested a trade from the N ets on June 30 and hasn't changed his stance even though Kyrie Irving remains with the club. Brooklyn is rightfully asking for the sky, especially after seeing what Utah got for Rudy Gobert. Durant has four years and $198 million remaining on his contract, while Brown has two years and nearly $60 million. Brown will then get a lot more expensive. Amid these rumors, he tweeted “smh” today. Now it's almost as if the genie is out of the bottle and the Celtics may have damaged their relationship with an All-Star player.
Books haven't released 2022-23 NBA win totals yet – they should next month after schedule is released – but the SportsLine Projection Model boosts Boston from 53.7 wins to 57.6 with the trade. The Celtics would also gain a 14.99 percent increase to their odds of winning the East again and 15.81 percent increase to their NBA title chances.
Brooklyn losing Durant but gaining potentially three starters drops them from 50.1 wins to 49.3, and its championship odds drop from 6.58 percent to 4.08.