Trade buzz around Jaylen Brown remains at a high level as the Celtics weigh offers from several suitors in the days leading up to the start of NBA free agency on Tuesday. Boston originally offered their All-Star big man in a trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo last week. Now, Boston is testing Brown’s trade value on the open market even with three years remaining on his deal.

Let’s detail what we’re hearing about a few of the teams with known interest in the Celtics star:

Denver is a franchise also looking to shake things up after a disappointing first round exit. They are trying to reduce their payroll to help retain free agent Peyton Watson while improving their core around Nikola Jokic. Despite Denver’s interest in Brown, first reported by NBA insider Marc Stein, one league source tells MassLive a deal is highly unlikely with Boston due to limited Nuggets draft assets.

Denver has already traded away first-round picks in 2027, 2029 and 2032, leaving them with just one tradable first-round pick. The Nuggets do have some valued players on mid-sized salaries with Boston showing interest in Aaron Gordon in the past, league sources tell MassLive. However, a hypothetical package of Gordon and Cam Johnson for Brown would not necessarily solve issues for either team as the Celtics would still need a big man and the Nuggets wouldn’t be reducing salary. Boston isn’t expected to have interest in Jamal Murray due to his sizable contract. Without other assets to sweeten the pot, it’s easy to see why Boston would look elsewhere.

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As MassLive first reported Saturday, Deni Avdija remains off the table, and the Blazers also prefer to keep young center Donovan Clingan. With the Blazers also coveting Toumani Camara, any type of trade would likely be centered around Jerami Grant (for salary matching purposes) along with the Blazers young backcourt talent (Scoot Henderson or Shaedon Sharpe). Portland also owns extensive future first-round pick draft capital (their own picks, Milwaukee swaps 2028-2030 and a Celtics 2029 first-round pick) that could create significant value in any offer. Boston, in theory, could turn around and use these picks in a subsequent deal with one of their trade exceptions to land a player.

Scottie Barnes is not on the table in any trade talks, a league source told MassLive, which comes as no surprise. That leaves a mix of pricey contracts left for Boston to choose from for salary matching with Toronto’s interest first reported by Michael Scotto of Hoopshype. Some of these guys would come with extensive long-term money attached (Jakob Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley) while Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett have shorter deals that could be easier for Boston to swallow. Like any Blazers offer, the main value in a Raptors trade would come from their first-round draft capital. They own all of their own future first round picks and can trade up to four of them.

Other teams worth watching

There are a number of players that have agreed to delay their team contract options in the past week until today, giving those teams the flexibility to use those deals for salary matching in trade scenarios with those deals. A few of the noteworthy teams on that list include the Atlanta Hawks (Buddy Hield), Los Angeles Clippers (Bogdan Bogdanovic) and Brooklyn Nets (Day’ron Sharpe). All of these teams have registered at least exploratory interest in Brown, sources tell MassLive. Thus, it’s worth monitoring what happens with these contracts on Sunday since it could signal some type of trade with those teams, although it may not necessarily involve Brown.

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