Should the Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown?

No longer a rhetorical question

The best thing about not trading a superstar player is keeping a superstar player on your roster. Case in point: Danny Ainge nearly traded Paul Pierce until he reversed course and built the Big 3 on the premise that at last he had one star player to kickstart his rebuilding process.

Brad Stevens has two star players: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. As far as we know, he hasn’t (really) tried to trade either one, and for good reason. While not exactly complimentary performers on the court or best buds off the floor, both Jaylen and Jayson have gone out of their way to make their relationship work as professionally as possible.

And while another championship (or two) would solidify their legacy as one of the great duos in Celtics history, Brown and Tatum have delivered a decade’s worth of team success and individual accolades. Having both Brown and Tatum on your roster means the Celtics always have a chance to contend.

Yet, if Stevens was ever going to trade one of them, he would almost certainly deal Brown and he would probably do so this summer. (Pardon the qualifiers, but trading superstars is a tricky business.)