NBA Rumors: Celtics Only Trading Jaylen Brown For John Collins If Hawks Include Trae Young & DeAndre Hunter In Trade Package

In a recent article, Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer revealed that the Celtics are one of the five teams that express significant interest in acquiring Collins from the Hawks before the 2021 trade deadline. The Hawks have been made aware of the Celtics' desire to land the young power forward, but a deal between the two teams isn't expected to come to fruition as Atlanta is reportedly making unreasonable demands.

According to Jared Weiss and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Hawks wanted the Celtics to send them Jaylen Brown in the potential deal centered on Collins.

With the improvements shown by Brown in his game, it's no longer surprising that if he's starting to catch the attention of other teams in the league. However, it's also the reason why a deal involving him is not going to happen before the 2021 trade deadline. As of now, it is highly unlikely that Celtics president of basketball operations and general manager Danny Ainge would trade Brown just to acquire Collins from the Hawks.

As The Athletic noted, the Celtics would only consider sending Brown to Hawks if they would include Trae Young and DeAndre Hunter in the trade package.

Though the potential deal involving Brown and Young isn't expected to happen, there remains a possibility for the Celtics and the Hawks to complete a trade before the March 25 deadline. However, the alternating trade scenario would still involve one of Boston's core players, Marcus Smart. Weiss thinks that the Hawks may agree to send Collins to Boston for a trade package centered on Smart.

"If it's to get someone like Marcus Smart who fits everything that Atlanta team needs, I think they might be willing to give up that hefty of a price," Weiss said, as quoted by NBC Sports Boston.

The Celtics would definitely think twice before trading Smart, but it might be worth it if it means acquiring a player of Collins' caliber. Collins may not be as experienced as Horford, but he would give the Celtics a very reliable scoring option under the basket, a great rebounder, and a legitimate floor-spacer.

If Collins meshes well with Tatum and Brown, it would not only help the Celtics become a more competitive team in the Eastern Conference this season, but it would also allow them to create one of the most promising trios in the league.