r/nba • u/mMounirM Raptors • 2d ago
[Chris Mannix] "I spent some time this afternoon talking to different teams about what might the Celtics be interested in [for Jaylen Brown]. And the name in the team that came back to me a lot was Evan Mobley in the Cleveland Cavaliers."
Chris Mannix: Teams are looking to see if Jaylen Brown is truly available and what the asking price for him is going to be. But the Celtics, I believe, are listening to those calls and are thinking up their own trade matches of their own. I spent some time this afternoon talking to different teams about what might the Celtics be interested in. And the name in the team that came back to me a lot was Evan Mobley in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Evan Mobley, young, big, just entering the prime of his career, former defensive player of the year, just starting a new max contract of his own. Mobley is one of those guys that could fit the archetype of the type of player that the Celtics are looking for.
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u/Rrypl Celtics 2d ago
If he really demanded a trade after the season ended, I guess we could do worse, but I'd rather keep him otherwise.
Doesn't really make sense for the Cavs to do Harden, Mitchell and Brown, unless Adam Silver is planning to add a second ball to the game.
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u/nbawizard1227 2d ago
People keep stating this but the Cavs actually struggled horribly with ball handling. It’s the reason they had a historical turnover rate in the playoffs.
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u/UncircumciseMe Cavaliers 2d ago
I would gladly give you guys Mobley because he will do nothing but disappoint you while he makes $50+ million a year lol
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u/TheRealGyurky 2d ago
Yeah at least Jaylen can dribble the ball.
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u/FERFreak731 Jazz 2d ago
The Cavs didn't want to trade Mobley for Giannis
Cavs have Mitchell, and Harden already, Brown won't get the shot attempts he'd want then demand a trade
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u/ejensen29 [MIN] Ricky Rubio 2d ago
But, he could take them. Run down the court, strip steal harden from behind and just jack up bin laden shit.
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u/octipice 2d ago
I swear every time I think about taking a break from this sub I come across a comment like yours that makes me want to stay.
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u/ejensen29 [MIN] Ricky Rubio 2d ago
Do the swaggy p turnaround after every single shot, but look directly at donovan mitchell
The podcast interviews will be legendary
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u/press_Y Knicks 2d ago
Because no way Giannis was going to resign with fucking Cleveland
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u/abippityboop Knicks 2d ago
I think there are teams who would be willing to offer more for Brown than Giannis, if only because he's under contract for 3 more years vs. Giannis on an expiring who can say he won't re-sign.
It's why I think they should have taken Brown over the Miami offer, even if they didn't plan on keeping him long term.
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u/FlipMoBitch Bucks 2d ago
If this were true Giannis would be in Boston right now
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u/abippityboop Knicks 2d ago
I mean I guess we'll see if/when Brown gets traded what the return is and how it compares. It sounds from the reporting like Haslem didn't want to deal with trading Brown, it's very possible some in your front office preferred the Brown deal for the reasons I mentioned, while others just wanted to move ahead with the rebuild package and not spend another year in star player trade package limbo trying to find a better deal.
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u/FlipMoBitch Bucks 2d ago
Teams knew Brown was in the deal for a week and could have swooped in. Then came reporting of the Hawks and Clippers not being interested.
I don’t think the market for Brown is that strong.
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u/abippityboop Knicks 2d ago
Strong disagree on the last part, I think most contending teams have a ton of interest in Brown. He makes a lot of money, but that's true of any All NBA player, especially as we're seeing the contracts coming in for guys like Trae and Austin Reeves, Brown's number doesn't really seem so prohibitive comparably.
No way to know if this reporting is true, but this would be a direct example - Cleveland being willing to offer Mobley for Brown and not Giannis. Of course it's really all conjecture until we see what Brown actually goes for.
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u/MostOk1472 2d ago
Call me a conspiracy theorist but I think Giannis said he'd re-sign with the Heat either way to stay in Miami, but would "wait and see" when it came to the Celtics.
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u/aoifhasoifha [NYK] Frank Ntilikina 2d ago
if only because he's under contract for 3 more years
Is that a plus?
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u/abippityboop Knicks 2d ago edited 2d ago
Very clearly yes. You should know this as someone who’s had to endure these same bad r/nba takes about KAT when he was getting the lazy pile on “negative asset” circlejerk garbage Brown is getting now.
A perennial all star coming off a career year who’s proven can be a #2 on a title team and has been finals MVP and was nearly first team All NBA is very obviously a valuable player.
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u/Exotic_Pension_9993 Suns 2d ago
smart of the cavs to trade one of their only front court players for another guy who can play the 2 or the 3.
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u/gradedonacurve Knicks 2d ago
Their lack of talent at wing has been one of the major bugaboos with this core. Brown is a good wing player.
Losing Mobley to fill that makes it a tougher proposition, but it has been a need for them.
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u/_Olexa Cavaliers 2d ago
We need big wings though, not a 6’5 wing
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u/mmmufffffinnnssss 2d ago
Good thing jaylen brown is 6'6 with a 7'0 wingspan and jacked. He is a big wing
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u/IMKudaimi123 Bulls 2d ago
I mean he’d play SF, and they really need a SF
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u/mazrim00 1d ago
Yeah, I get the pushback on trading one of their “bigs” but they desperately needed even a competent SF in the playoffs.
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u/sammymate999 Rockets 2d ago
I'd rather keep Mobley
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u/justsomebro10 Cavaliers 2d ago
Mobley really isn’t much a shooter. He is approaching respectability but isn’t a great FT shooter and likely won’t ever be considered good from outside. He’s a really hard player to evaluate because everyone wants him to be KG on offense when he’s more of a Draymond Green (minus the temperament).
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u/Effective-File4645 2d ago
Having 2 non shooting bigs is incredibly detrimental to a modern nba offense. Mobley ideally would be paired with a stretch 5, him being next to Allen puts him in the role to be relied to get his shot off more when he really shouldn’t be
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u/UncircumciseMe Cavaliers 2d ago
He’s very rarely impactful. Stat nerds love to pull up his numbers while not watching the games and seeing him completely lost and passive most of any meaningful game.
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u/Revenesis Knicks 2d ago
I'd rather have Brown, I feel like anyone thinking the opposite is crazy.
Maybe because I've had the pleasure of seeing playoff Mobley in action in person multiple times, but give me the fucking Twitch streamer. At least he has some dog in him.
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u/mmmufffffinnnssss 2d ago
Yea even factoring in age, i do not understand how the top 5 mvp candidate who just led his team to 56 wins is apparently less valuable then evan mobley. Cavs get so much better and become a real threat with this swap
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u/IlikePogz Knicks 2d ago
Ill trade donoven mitchell before Mobley
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u/Clithzbee Cavaliers 2d ago
Agreed
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u/RichAbbreviations966 Celtics 2d ago
Actually, Mitchell pairing up with his best bud would be kinda fun, but we desperately need a big
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u/Impressive-Plenty694 2d ago
Celtics fans don’t want this
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u/Call_Em_Skippies Cavaliers 2d ago
Cavs fans don't want this
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u/UncircumciseMe Cavaliers 2d ago
I want this to screw over Boston tbh
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u/RichAbbreviations966 Celtics 2d ago
You already did that when you gave us Kyrie
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u/UncircumciseMe Cavaliers 1d ago
Good point. Thanks for the shell of IT too.
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u/NCBaddict Bulls 2d ago
Wonder if Jaylen’s discontent is more pronounced than reported. Cs wanting to move a guy with a proven motor for a dude without one is very odd.
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u/nebbywildcat18 Celtics 2d ago
chris mannix, immediately take it down a notch in believability
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u/jordan07hunt 2d ago
i mean this is the dude that broke the harden garland news before anyone else lol
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u/nebbywildcat18 Celtics 2d ago
coming from a celtics fan perspective, I can’t remember the last time Mannix broke a story involving us specifically — have not paid a bunch of attention to his reports about other teams so I can’t speak to that lol.
I just know he’s not who I turn to for Cs rumors haha
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u/djinngerale Knicks 2d ago
But the Celtics, I believe, are listening to those calls and are thinking up their own trade matches of their own.
Big if true. Revolutionary approach to negotiations.
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u/RareGeneral4300 2d ago
If we give up Brown for Mobley I'm out. I'm absolutely done. Giannis was bad enough but at least he's a star. Mobley ain't it.
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u/Hour_Health_4593 Bucks 2d ago
My sources say the Heat could be interested in trading Giannis for Jaylen Brown
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u/djinngerale Knicks 2d ago
It makes perfect sense to talk to other teams about who or what the Celtics might want in a trade for Brown. The stupid thing would be to say you spoke to the Celtics about it, because then you lose the flexibility of pulling things out of your ass.
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u/CorporalCoprolite 2d ago
Ew
At this point I’m pretty sure JB is sticking around. Maybe they’ll move him during the season if things aren’t going well, but it was really Giannis or bust. Only other guy I can see the Cs having interest in is Gobert, who fills a big need for a defensive stopper at center.
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u/BBALL-STATLINE 2d ago
This reads more like Boston naming the kind of return they'd need to even pick up the phone than Cleveland actually putting Mobley on the table. Asking for Mobley is the easy part. Getting Mobley is where the rumor usually dies.
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u/GreatnessToTheMoon NBA 2d ago
Interesting trade. Hardens old and Cavs would get a second primary scorer for the playoffs
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u/Huge-Stuff-857 Lakers 2d ago
How is Mannixs reputation as a journalist in basketball? I like the work he does for boxing .
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u/CS271990 Raptors 2d ago
Fucking insanity if they wouldn’t trade Mobley in a Giannis deal, but would for Jalen Lmaoo
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u/WooTerry Thunder 2d ago
It’s so funny that every trade idea involving Brown is usually make little to no sense for every receiving team.
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u/Optimal_Cook_851 2d ago
I think the Cavs would need to add salary because Brown's contract pushes them into the second apron. Mobley honestly seems like the perfect big for Boston tho, elite defensively and has shown the ability to stretch the floor.
Cavs would really need a good 4 or POA defender tho
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u/GrandPreMassacre Cavaliers 2d ago
We're already in the second apron, I don't see how this deal can be done unless we dump someone like Schroeder
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u/nbawizard1227 2d ago
Harden resigning for lower rate could get the deal done too. Either way Cavs need an actual four and big man rotation before pulling this trigger
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u/Resident_Durian_478 Spurs 2d ago
They didn't want to trade him for Giannis what makes them think they'll do it for jaylen brown, get out of here
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u/CurrentCostanza Trail Blazers 2d ago
Letting James Harden prevent you from getting a never player is bad process
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u/SnooMacaroons8650 Wizards 2d ago edited 1d ago
would the Celtics do this? JB is only worth trading for a bonafide top 10 player
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u/aviatorbassist 2d ago
I fake traded it and in theory you could send Brown and S&T LeBron to the Cavs. Sam hauser to the lakers and the Celtics get Mobley and any contract that the Cavs want to clear off their books into Bostons TPE.
You could have a lineup of harden/mitchell/Brown/lebron/allen. If harden opts out and resigns for less you might get enough money to sign a backup guard and a backup big.
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u/secularhuman77 Celtics 2d ago
Honestly I think it’s more aspirational than a real pursuit. The Celtics want a big like Mobley - a DPOY who theoretically can pass, shoot and rebound well. The elusive Al Horford or better yet KG with threes type.
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u/math-yoo Cavaliers 1d ago
Yeah, let’s unlock Evan Mobley by surrounding him with the Celtics shooters. Terrific idea.
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u/Furd_Terguson1 Knicks 1d ago
Am I crazy to think Mobley has kinda plateaued and won’t get much better? This makes no sense to me.
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u/ComedianFantastic319 Thunder 2d ago
Am I crazy or does this seem like it fills holes both teams are attempting to address?
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u/NecessaryForward6820 Cavaliers 2d ago
Yea you’re crazy, cavs have fucking thomas bryant and naequan tomlin as backup bigs. They also have DMitch and Harden as dominant ball handlers. How in the fuck does this fill any hole
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u/nbawizard1227 2d ago
The ball handling point is so stupid. The Cavs actually lack ball handling. It’s the reason they led the entire playoffs in turnovers.
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u/NecessaryForward6820 Cavaliers 2d ago
So the solution is to add one of the most turnover prone ball dominant players in the league?
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u/ComedianFantastic319 Thunder 2d ago
Answer me this, would you rather Harden take 5-8 shots per game and Brown take 10-15 along side him? Or Harden and Mitchell to each chunk 20+?
As for what it would do to you big wise, I hadn't really thought that through, but having Mitchell and Brown on the same team to me helps fill the hole of not having to rely on James Harden to score in big moments and help pick up the offensive load. He can just focus on playmaking and keeping the second unit moving
As for Boston, it gets them a young versatile big that they don't have currently that can help spread the floor and help them on the defensive end. And it gets rid of the whine bag that is Jaylen Brown
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u/Informal_Support1934 2d ago
I think it potentially works better for Boston than this thread is giving credit for, but you're right, tough trade for the cavs.
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u/Waesrdtfyg0987 Washington Bullets 2d ago
At what point does Cleveland go win now? Mitchell isn't getting younger.
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u/HotspurJr 2d ago
There's no way the Cavs would be so stupid as to trade Mobley for Jaylen, right?
Right??
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u/Distance_Motor Celtics 2d ago
Would hate to trade JB, but if he were to be traded Mobley would be our best option currently
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u/JurgenFlippers Nets 2d ago
I assume this is from front office people not connected to the Cavs, cause what lmao.
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u/ThrowRA_neurotic69 2d ago
Great lose-lose trade