Nikola Jokic is the one piece the Denver Nuggets can’t even think about moving. Everything else, at least in theory, is on the table.
That’s the backdrop for a wild trade idea floated by CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn, who suggested a summer swap that would send Jamal Murray to the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown. It’s the kind of proposal that would turn heads across the league, even if Quinn was quick to make clear it’s far from a simple deal.
“Is a (Jamal) Murray-for-(Jaylen) Brown trade possible,” Quinn wrote last Tuesday. “I suppose in theory.
Is it practical? No, at least not at the moment.
NBA front offices are creative. If Denver values Brown more than Murray and Boston absolutely loves Murray as a replacement for Brown, this is potentially solvable.”
The idea lands with extra force because of what Brown represents right now. The Celtics, after missing out on Giannis Antetokounmpo, are widely believed to be looking at ways to use Brown and his $285 million contract to chase another star or superstar this summer. ESPN’s Shams Charania recently reported that Boston is actively in trade talks with multiple teams.
From Denver’s side, the move would be a major stylistic shift. Murray is the Nuggets’ high-level true point guard and floor general, while Brown would bring a different kind of punch: a right-hand-dominant offensive force with championship experience and the best season of his career behind him.
Brown helped Boston stay near the top of the Eastern Conference in what was supposed to be a down year, with Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury forcing him to start the season on the bench. He finished with 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
Still, Quinn made it clear that a Murray-Brown blockbuster would be difficult to pull off. The hurdles, in his view, are enough to make the whole thing highly unrealistic.
In Other News...
Nuggets Just Got A Surprising Peyton Watson Break
Peyton Watson still sits in that familiar restricted free agent holding pattern, and for the Nuggets, the part that matters is simple enough: he remains unsigned and still can be pitched by other teams through offer sheets. Denver has reason to keep watching the market, but the landscape around him has shifted in a way that should help. Several teams with the kind of flexibility that can create trouble for a young wing have already spent their room elsewhere, which narrows the list of clubs that can realistically try to pry him away.
Los Angeles had loomed as one of the more obvious threats because of its cap flexibility, but that path has largely been eaten up by a busy summer of roster movement. The Lakers are not alone, either, as other teams with spending power have also committed their money to different targets. For the Nuggets, that does not close the book on Watsons free agency, but it does make the road to getting him back a little cleaner than it looked not long ago. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Suddenly Face A Franchise Changing Nikola Jokic Question
Nikola Jokic remains the central figure in everything the Nuggets are trying to build, and the latest chatter around his contract situation only reinforces how much of the franchises future runs through him. He is already established as the face of Denvers title window, but the business side of that relationship has become a topic the organization can no longer treat as routine.
The uncertainty now is less about what Jokic means to the Nuggets than when, and whether, the next major conversation happens on Denvers timeline or someone elses. If the situation ever shifts from extension talk to something more dramatic, the league would be watching closely, because a player of his caliber instantly changes the stakes for any team involved and could turn a quiet offseason into a much bigger story before long. [Read more 🡒]