WOULD YOU? (Changing of the oft-injured guards)

It's the NBA offseason. A lot of us love trade rumors or trade discussions. Some hate it and can't wait until the activity of late June and July has passed. These "WOULD YOU's" are definitely for the first category of people. As always if you believe Boston is giving up too much/little in a WOULD YOU, reply with what should be subtracted/added.

This WOULD YOU is for fans that want to keep Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown together. What's become is apparent is for the Jay's to work as your supermax top 2 guys you need an elite playmaker to run the show. Chris Paul back in the day would be a great fit. But he'd be making a supermax contract himself and also would't be avalable. Chris Paul nowadays, like many older players struggles to not get injured. Malcolm Brogdon as struggled himself with staying on the court, since his 2nd season.

Both players aren't likely to all of a sudden give you 70 games. Brogdon remained healthy finally this regular season and won the NBA's 6th Man of the Year for his troubles. Brogdon still only played eight more games than Chris Paul. Paul on the other hand played 155 more minutes on the season than Malcolm. Both broke down at the worst times in the playoffs.

Brogdon isn't a good defender. Paul is even worse. To compensate for the defensive downgrade, you'd have to improve elsewhere. Both Marcus Smart's and Jaylen's defense weren't as good as the year prior. Robert Williams also missed his usual ton of games. If you were to trade for Paul, the rest of your signings could be defensive oriented. Last summer Stevens went with offense in Brogdon and Gallinari. A player like Bruce Brown Jr. would have helped a ton more than Gallo (even if he stayed healthy), but everyone was crying about offense.

Chris Paul career regular season stats via Basketball-Reference.

Now after a worse season defensively, fans are saying you can't add an offensive player. Well the team needs an elite playmaker. Either you trade Jaylen for one or you roll the dice with a flawed option.

Chris Paul just doesn't seem to last a full season and playoffs with starter minutes. A smart team would limit his minutes during the regular season, sacrificing some wins and home court advantage, for a better shot that Paul lasts the playoffs. Shoot, give Paul the first two months of the season if you must, so he breaks down two months later.

Financially CP3 has a $30 million price tag this coming season if the Celtics traded for him (and kept him). The following season is a team option, so Boston has no commitment there. Brogdon makes less per year, but has more guaranteed money left on his deal.

Malcolm Brogdon career regular season stats via Basketball-Reference.

Mike Muscala is simply included to make the trade legal, since Boston is taking back a bigger contract. He has a team option for this season, so the Suns can decline that and cut their 2023-24 payroll by $8.3 million by swapping point guards. If the Suns waive Paul, they are still on the hook for $15 million AND would need to add another point guard. Brogdon costs only $7 million more this season than waiving Paul would. Brogdon is a steal at $7 million a year. Again the negative is that he has another season on his deal if he doesn't work out. If Paul doesn't work out for Boston he's off the books after this coming season.

If you think Brogdon is too much to give up for Paul, than you can add another asset like a pick coming back to Boston. If you think Brogdon won't get you Paul, you can add another asset like a pick going to Phoenix.

Would you do this deal?

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