Bill Simmons Pushed a Jaylen Brown Trade to Denver. Zach Lowe Had One Big Objection.

The NBA rumor mill is churning again, and this time Jaylen Brown is at the center of it. With Giannis Antetokounmpo now in Miami, the focus has shifted to Boston’s other star wing. The Celtics are reportedly shopping Brown in a blockbuster deal, and the Denver Nuggets have come up as a possible landing spot.

Bill Simmons floated the idea on his podcast: Brown and Sam Hauser to Denver for Jamal Murray and Cam Johnson. Simmons, a die-hard Celtics fan, argued Boston should jump at that. He called Murray a top-25 player and said the Nuggets would come out “better, bigger, and deeper” with more flexibility and a clean cap sheet. He said it just makes sense.

But his co-host, Zach Lowe, wasn’t buying it. Not for Denver anyway.

“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.”

Lowe’s point is about roster construction. If the Nuggets trade Murray, they’re left with almost no proven guard depth. You’d be asking Nikola Jokic to run the offense as the de facto point guard, which he can do. But fitting Jaylen Brown into that system? Lowe called it “a little sticky.”

Brown is coming off a monster season. He averaged career highs of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists, carrying the Celtics to the second seed in the East while Jayson Tatum missed significant time. He looked like an MVP candidate at times. But he’s not a point guard, and the Nuggets need one.

Tyus Jones is also on Denver’s roster but he’s an unrestricted free agent and could walk. So the Nuggets might be better off chasing a more traditional floor general. Lowe hinted that if Denver wants to make a bold move, Ja Morant or Trae Young would make more sense than trying to jam Brown into a role that doesn’t fit.

The Celtics, meanwhile, would get a proven playoff guard in Murray and a versatile forward in Johnson. That’s a pretty solid return if Boston is determined to move Brown. But the Nuggets have to decide if they want to go all-in on Jokic as the primary playmaker and figure out the rest later.

For now, this is just noise. The trade deadline is still months away, and nothing is close. But if Simmons and Lowe are arguing about it on air, you know the front offices are at least talking.