Bill Simmons thinks Denver Nuggets could trade for Jaylen Brown as Nikola Jokic’s new co-star

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Jaylen Brown’s trade availability might prompt the Denver Nuggets to make the biggest roster shakeup of the Nikola Jokic era.

Bill Simmons is a lifelong Boston Celtics fan, and his position in sports media has made him an influential figure.

While he isn’t a reporter, his recent sourced claims about the Celtics, including being the first to credibly report that the franchise tried acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo, give credence to what he says now.

Now, he’s among the first few to discuss the Nuggets being Brown’s next destination.

Bill Simmons proposes a Jamal Murray-centric Nuggets trade package for Jaylen Brown

Bill Simmons confirmed The Stein Line’s report that the Nuggets were interested in acquiring Brown, also sharing a potential trade package that the two teams could agree on.

“There’s a lot of smoke billowing around Denver in general. Some I believe, some I don’t believe. Murray and Cam Johnson for Jaylen and Hauser. It saves Denver $10 million this year, and Boston can take Johnson into their trade exception.”

“If I’m Boston, I’m signing up for that trade. If I’m Denver, I’m at least having a six-hour meeting.”

Murray has been with the Nuggets for 10 seasons and is one-half of the best offensive duo in the NBA with Jokic. Removing Murray from Denver’s offense is essentially restructuring it to be similar to what we saw in 2021-22 when Murray was out with a torn ACL.

Murray averaged 25.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists last season, one of the best years of his career. Brown is also coming off a career year with Boston, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists.

Nuggets will take an unprecedented risk by acquiring Jaylen Brown

Outside of one season without Murray, which led to Jokic’s MVP breakout, we haven’t really seen how the Nuggets might look without their long-term point guard.

Brown is a similarly talented scorer and a much better defender, but he lacks the court vision and chemistry that Murray brings to the table.

This will be a full bet on Jokic being the team’s point guard by filling out the remaining positions with three-and-D players like Brown, Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson (pending re-signing), Christian Braun, and more.

But with the Jokic-Murray tandem failing to reach the Conference Finals in three Playoff runs since their 2023 title, a major change is what the Nuggets need to reset their franchise.