Rockets and Hawks reportedly lead the race for Brown! U.S. media outlines a trade proposal: swap Sengun and Amen for him?

On June 24, Beijing time, NBC reporter Herring indicated that should the Celtics actually decide to move Jaylen Brown, both the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks would emerge as the leading candidates to acquire him.

"Once Brown becomes available, the Rockets and Hawks will lead the chase, while numerous other teams are keen to join the race—the Trail Blazers have already made their interest known. The biggest challenge lies in matching Brown's salary: he is set to earn $57.1 million next season, with a total of approximately $183 million over the next three years. Brown just finished the best season of his career, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game."

So what kind of trade packages could the Rockets and Hawks offer to land Brown?

1. Rockets acquire Brown in a 2-for-1 swap

Proposal: The Rockets send out Sengun and Amen Thompson to the Celtics in exchange for Jaylen Brown.

Rockets fans will likely expect the Celtics to throw in extra draft picks as compensation, but the league has seen cases where teams overvalue their own young players and hesitate to demand picks in trades.

Objectively, neither Sengun nor Amen Thompson has proven themselves in the playoffs, and both have notable shortcomings in outside shooting—there are even doubts about whether they can ever improve their jump shots. Last season, the Rockets' offensive efficiency was already low, and even if VanVleet stays, he alone cannot turn the team's offensive struggles around. While reports suggest Amen is close to untouchable, if the trade target is a former Finals MVP like Brown, perhaps Amen could be considered part of the offer.

If Jaylen Brown joins, he would form a balanced and experienced core alongside Durant, VanVleet, Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr., and Adams—providing ample outside shooting potential and making the team a formidable playoff contender. In crunch-time fourth quarters, Durant would no longer have to handle every critical shot alone; and if the team retains restricted free agent Eason, his relentless hustle and defensive energy would perfectly complement this star-laden lineup.

For the Celtics, this deal swaps a star entering the latter stages of his prime for two promising young talents, while splitting a massive max contract into two smaller, more manageable salaries—creating greater financial flexibility.

2. Hawks acquire Brown in a 4-for-1 swap

Proposal: The Hawks send Okongwu, Alexander-Walker, Kispert, and the 23rd pick to the Celtics for Jaylen Brown.

The Celtics would naturally prefer the Hawks' No. 8 pick, and they might also want to replace Kispert with Risacher. These are secondary, negotiable details; the core value of this trade lies in the Celtics acquiring a stretch center with outside shooting ability, along with Alexander-Walker—a quality starting combo guard.

Jaylen Brown is a native of Georgia, so joining the Hawks would be a homecoming for him. However, it's hard to gauge whether hometown appeal outweighs the opportunity to lead this young Eastern Conference team—a squad whose playoff exit last season was fundamentally due to the lack of a reliable primary scorer.

If Jaylen Brown aspires to join the league's elite, the Hawks would give him that chance: the team would still retain Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and recently re-signed McCollum. Losing Okongwu and Alexander-Walker would create holes in the starting lineup, but if the Hawks can keep their No. 8 pick out of the deal and use the mid-level exception to sign reinforcements, they might be able to fill those gaps.