Zach Lowe Thinks the Nuggets Would Be Crazy to Trade for Jaylen Brown. Here’s Why.

The NBA rumor mill is on fire right now. Giannis Antetokounmpo just landed in Miami. And suddenly all eyes are on Jaylen Brown, who the Celtics are reportedly trying to move in a trade that would shake up the whole league.

Denver has been floated as a potential landing spot. Bill Simmons, the Ringer founder and a known Celtics superfan, pitched a deal on his podcast: Brown and Sam Hauser to the Nuggets for Jamal Murray and Cam Johnson. Simmons loves it for Boston. He called Murray a top-25 player and argued the Celtics would get bigger, deeper, and more flexible while ducking the tax.

“This trade makes a ton of sense to me,” Simmons said.

His co-host, Zach Lowe, wasn’t buying it — at least not from Denver’s side. Lowe’s objection is about roster construction, not talent. And he makes a pretty sharp point.

The Point Guard Problem Nobody’s Talking About

“Here’s my obstacle if I’m Denver,” Lowe said. “Christian Braun is now my only proven rotation, playoff-level guard on the whole team. Out of anyone. Jalen Pickett is the only point guard on the team.”

That’s the thing. Brown is a wing. A really good one — he just averaged career highs of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists while dragging Boston to the No. 2 seed even without Jayson Tatum for big chunks of the season. But the Nuggets don’t need another scorer as much as they need someone to run the offense when Nikola Jokic isn’t playing point forward.

Lowe put it bluntly: “You’re going all in on point Jokic. Almost all in, depending on who you get in free agency. Sort of fitting Jaylen Brown into that universe, I think, would be a little sticky.”

He’s not wrong. Tyus Jones is also a point guard on Denver’s roster, but he’s an unrestricted free agent and could walk. So you’d be left with a rotation where Brown is the second-best playmaker behind a center. That’s a weird fit.

So What Would Denver Actually Do?

If the Nuggets want to make a bold move, Lowe suggested they might be better off going after a true floor general — Ja Morant or Trae Young type — instead of jamming Brown into a lineup that already has Jokic, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon.

Brown’s value is sky-high right now. But Denver’s needs are specific. They don’t need another high-usage wing who can’t run the offense full-time. They need a guard who can keep the machine humming when Jokic sits.

Lowe’s skepticism isn’t about Brown’s talent. It’s about fit. And in a league where fit can make or break a contender, that might be the difference between another championship and another early playoff exit.