Jaylen Brown trade chatter has become one of the NBA’s favorite offseason games, and Monday brought another proposal with real star power attached to it.
This one came from The Ringer’s Michael Pina, who outlined a deal that would send Brown from Boston to Sacramento and bring back a pair of accomplished veterans plus draft capital. Under Pina’s idea, the Kings would land Brown, while the Celtics would get DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and three first-round picks.
Pina also noted that the framework could shift depending on how Boston wants to handle the money. He wrote that the “particulars here are fluid,” adding that the Celtics could try to pull more draft assets from Sacramento or include “another small contract (like Luka Garza’s)” to help lower payroll and make avoiding the tax easier. He also pointed out that DeRozan’s deal is expiring, with only $10 million guaranteed.
Still, Pina’s core argument centered on why Boston might even consider it. As he put it, “fundamentally, the appeal for Boston is twofold.
First, I don’t really care how dramatically reformed the lottery gets; owning Kings picks is smart business. Second, Sabonis is kinda what Boston needs: an interior low-post bruiser who’s comfortable handling the ball on the perimeter and could seamlessly fit into its preexisting offensive system.”
If Boston were to move Brown and add DeRozan and Sabonis, the roster would get older in a hurry. Brown turns 30 in October, DeRozan will be 37 in August and Sabonis is already 30.
DeRozan’s resume still carries plenty of weight. He made four of his six All-Star teams with the Toronto Raptors, then spent three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs before earning back-to-back All-Star nods with the Chicago Bulls in 2022 and 2023. He was traded to Sacramento in July 2024 and closed last season with 18.4 points, 4.1 assists and 31.2 minutes per game over 77 games.
Sabonis, meanwhile, is coming off a rough 2025-26 season in which a partially torn meniscus limited him to a career-low 19 games. Before that, the Gonzaga product had been one of the league’s steadiest big men, posting between 18.5 and 20.3 points, 12.0 and 13.9 rebounds, and 5.0 and 8.2 assists per game across six straight seasons.
In Other News...
UConns Portal Haul Carries Massive Pressure Into Jason Candles First Season
Jason Candles first season in Storrs arrives with the kind of roster churn that can make or break a new era, and UConn has leaned hard on the transfer portal to smooth the transition after Jim Moras departure. The Huskies have brought in a wide-ranging group of newcomers from places like Ohio State, Syracuse, Duke, Michigan State, USC, Wake Forest, Boston College, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Rutgers, Marshall, Oregon State and Tennessee, a clear sign that the staff is trying to stock the depth chart quickly while resetting the programs identity.
The biggest pressure point is still the one that usually decides whether portal-heavy rebuilds take hold, and UConn has addressed it with two quarterback additions in Jake Merklinger from Tennessee and Kalieb Osborne from Toledo. Even with that influx, the margin for error looks thin once the season starts, with Lafayette first on the board and a challenging run that also includes Syracuse, North Carolina, Maryland, Old Dominion and James Madison waiting soon after. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Kings Were Sold On UConn's Alex Karaban
When Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry introduced the teams 2026 NBA Draft class, Alex Karaban was the name that carried the clearest UConn imprint. Perry pointed to Karabans winning pedigree and the way he fits into the Kings culture and values, a combination that helped the former Husky stand out alongside Darius Acuff Jr. and Emanuel Sharp.
For UConn fans, that connection is hardly surprising. Karabans run in Storrs came under Dan Hurley, whose program is built on hard work, accountability and a standard that translates beyond college, and Perry made it clear that those traits mattered in Sacramentos evaluation. Karaban, for his part, said the lessons he learned at UConn are the kind he expects to carry with him into the next phase of his career. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Fans Will Love Alex Karabans Latest Sacramento Moment
Sacramentos summer rollout has already given Alex Karaban a little extra visibility, and for UConn fans, it was the kind of off-court moment that still feels connected to the next step in a young pro career. Karaban, the former Huskies standout now on the Kings roster, joined fellow rookies Darius Acuff and Emanuel Sharp at an Athletics game against the Dodgers in West Sacramento, where the three handled ceremonial first pitches before the baseball crowd.
The timing matters because Sacramento is in the middle of a roster crossroads, with the Kings summer calendar about to shift into the California Classic and Summer League. For Karaban, that means an early chance to make a case as the depth chart begins to settle, and his latest appearance is a small reminder that he is already being folded into the franchises broader plans. [Read more 🡒]