CBS Sports sends strong message on Jaylen Brown and Derrick White’s trade value to Celtics

The Boston Celtics have been in teardown mode for several months following their second-round elimination caused by Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury, trading away Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and even some of the players acquired from those deals. Al Horford and Luke Kornet weren’t re-signed either.

The 2023-24 NBA Champions were heartbreakingly split up by the CBA’s second tax apron. And Stevens might not be done yet.

Are Jaylen Brown and Derrick White next?

Derrick White has more trade value to Celtics than Jaylen Brown

CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn noted that the Celtics have a longer line for White than they would for Brown in trade talks. White not only makes far less money, but his skillset doesn’t need the offense built around him.

White fits every system and can be in almost every role on the floor – from being a distributor, a spot-up shooter, and rim attacker on offense, to being a ballhawk and even a shotblocker on defense.

“But virtually every question mark that comes with a possible Brown trade is nonexistent where White is concerned. He makes essentially half as much as Brown does, so he's a more plausible salary match. He fits on literally any team. His skill set is about as low-maintenance as it gets: high-level shooting, elite off-ball defense and very good on-ball defense, solid secondary shot-creation. He's a higher-usage version of Fred VanVleet who dribbles into the paint a bit more. Certain teams may be more interested in Brown than White, but more teams would be interested in White than Brown. That's how you drive up prices. It's how players like Gobert and Mikal Bridges can command five first-round picks without being traditional stars. Players who can seamlessly fit on any roster are easier to trade than players who need a very narrow set of circumstances to thrive,” Quinn wrote.

At this point, nothing is sacred to the franchise’s new ownership group. The Marcus Smart trade was the beginning of the end of the Celtics’ core, and it’s tough to tell where it ends when it comes to trading fan-favorites.

In truth, though, neither White nor Brown is likely to be next on the chopping block. The Athletic’s John Hollinger sees Sam Hauser as the likeliest next cap casualty.

“The other part of this equation is that Boston probably isn’t done. Anfernee Simons’ $27 million expiring contract seems likely to be on somebody else’s books by February, unless the Celtics can find a taker for Sam Hauser instead. Moving at least one of those two gets Boston all the way out of the CBA’s punishing repeater tax and sets the Celtics up to build back with a recovered Tatum a year from now,” Hollinger wrote.

It’s unclear if Tatum, Brown, and White are enough, but if the front office feels they are, everyone else is likely to be moved before next summer, when the team aims to urgently win again.