Cooper Flagg To Celtics? Blockbuster Trade Idea After Jayson Tatum Injury

Monday was an eventful day for the NBA, to say the least.

The league saw the underdog New York Knicks and the Anthony Edwards-led Minnesota Timberwolves both take 3-1 leads in their respective conference semifinals series. Jalen Brunson and company sealed another upset minutes after Jayson Tatum suffered what very well could be a franchise-altering injury before the Boston Celtics.

But hours before Tatum went down late in the Knicks’ Game 4 win, the NBA broadcasted another big-time shocker. The Dallas Mavericks, despite having only a 1.8% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, won the draft lottery and the opportunity to select generational prospect Cooper Flagg.

The ping pong balls bouncing the Mavs’ way prompted former league executive John Hollinger to run through potential trade offers Dallas could receive for the highly coveted asset. And in wake of Tatum’s injury, Hollinger felt inclined to at least broach the idea of the C’s making a run at Flagg.

“The other avenue, we must whisper, is asking Boston about Jaylen Brown,” Hollinger wrote for The Athletic. “Brown is a much easier positional fit next to (Anthony) Davis and (Dereck) Lively, but he’s owed $236 million over the next four seasons, and the Celtics’ roster gets frighteningly expensive next season. Would Boston mind resetting around a New England native and waiting out a gap year if Tatum needs it to recover? For that matter, would Dallas do this unless it also had considerable capital coming back in addition to Brown?”

The final question Hollinger asked is the one to focus on. Even though Brown is one of the NBA’s better two-way players who doesn’t turn 29 until the start of next season, the Celtics likely would have to give up much, much more to pry the No. 1 pick from the Mavericks. Flagg projects to be that good, and Dallas surely is eager to build the next era of the franchise around him — especially after the baffling Luka Doncic trade.

Green Teamers probably can bank on major moves being made by the front office this offseason. That comes with the territory of pricing yourself out in an attempt to create a dynasty. But none of those transactions likely would result in a homecoming of sorts for Flagg.