Could the Celtics acquire Dylan Harper without trading Jaylen Brown?

The Celtics have a mandate to get below the 2nd Apron of the luxury tax for this coming season. Due to the supermax contracts of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum the task for Brad Stevens to surround them with a supporting contending roster is made much more difficult.

The simplest remedy bandied about is to dump the contracts of two or three of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Sam Hauser. Complicating matters is it's not like the NBA is full of teams with the cap flexibility to just add big money without sending any contracts back. The more drastic retooling for Stevens would include trading Derrick White and/or Jaylen Brown.

Whenever you've heard any rumors of the Celtics trading up in the draft to snag Rutgers' Dylan Harper, the name going back to San Antonio has always been Jaylen Brown. Due to Brown's massive contract and talent disparity, the Celtics would also be getting back additional players and draft assets. According to Bill Simmons though a deal with the Spurs acquiring Kevin Durant could very much be in the works.

If the Spurs decide to acquire Kevin Durant who will be 37 years old when training camp opens they would be doing so to compete now. San Antonio would still need some proven veteran winners and a Derrick White reunion could be in the cards. White's value has skyrocketed since the Spurs traded him to Boston a few years back and he's now worth multiple first round picks.

All first round picks are not the same and a top 2 pick for example is worth more than let's say four late firsts. The question is just how Derrick White's trade value is at? Harper is just 19 and White is about to turn 31, so the age gap will play a factor in value too. If Stevens wanted Harper enough he would have some additional assets at his disposal to sweeten his offer.

One thing we've seen from Stevens which differs from his predecessor Danny Ainge, is that Brad seems much more willing to sweeten the pot to get a deal done. Derrick White's salary is $26,350,000 for the 2025-26 season or about $14 million more than the #2 pick in this draft will be receiving. The difference is salaries would go a long way to helping Stevens get out of the 2nd Apron, but if the Spurs are adding Durant's deal, that would make it much harder for San Antonio to absorb the extra salary in a deal.

As you'll find with any major potential Celtics trade this offseason it's going to be very tricky to make the math work. But if the Spurs decide to go all-in on winning now with Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox, and Kevin Durant, Derrick White would be a huge get for them and could potentially land Harper in Boston without sacrificing Brown.

Further complicating matters is the fact that the Spurs don't want to trade Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, so if they moving the #2 pick instead in a deal with Phoenix well then there goes the Harper to Boston dream.

Would the Spurs still potentially want White even if Durant wasn't headed to San Antonio. I mean White would still work tremendously with Wembanyama, Fox, and Castle, but the urgency to compete for a title immediately would be the same as if they had just acquired Durant.

For the Celtics trading White to acquire Harper would be a move for the 2026-27 season and beyond when Tatum is hopefully back and 100 percent. White will be 32 when that season rolls around and as we've scene time and time again, players can fall off pretty quickly as the years in the 30's tick off.

And again due to the Tatum and Brown supermax contracts it's pretty much a requirement for Stevens to find some very talented players on team friendly deals. The easiest way to accomplish that is with first round picks, the higher the better. Think back to when Brown and Tatum were on their rookie deals. Ainge had the cap flexibility to sign a max player in Gordon Hayward and trade for Kyrie Irving. He also pursued trading for Anthony Davis.

Now that Brown and Tatum are two of the highest paid players in the NBA, if Stevens intends to keep both, he sort of needs to work in the opposite way of Ainge to add a third star and/or fill out the rotation with the best players. If White was 25, you would be holding on to him no questions asked, but that's not the case. It goes without saying that Boston could trade and draft for Harper and he'd be a bust, but that goes for all Celtics draft picks.

Brown, Tatum, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin McHale could have all been busts. If Stevens thinks Harper could be a star, he's going to consider trading up in this draft.


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