4 stars the Portland Trail Blazers should trade Anfernee Simons for

Portland should trade Simons for Jaylen Brown

The Boston Celtics were denied a return trip to the NBA Finals by the Miami Heat, and a major contributing factor was the play of Jaylen Brown. He shot poorly for the entire Eastern Conference Finals and was a turnover machine, getting to 25 total in the seven-game series. When asked to step up and take on the playmaking load, he couldn’t do it.

That bitter taste and public failure is dragging down both his public image and his internal opinion within the Celtics organization, but it also means there is a very real buy-low opportunity for a team like the Trail Blazers. Brown is miscast as a lead ball-handler, but he is a legitimate two-way wing who can shoot, score, defend and fill in the gaps for a team.

A package of Simons and the No. 3 pick would give the Blazers a devastating forward combination with Brown and Grant. There is every reason to think that Brown can play better with a true playmaker running the offense, something Jayson Tatum isn’t quite capable of doing.

The Celtics could flip that pick to another team for a win-now upgrade or diversify their timeline by adding Brandon Miller or Scoot Henderson to give Tatum a future co-star. Simons would give them plenty of offensive juice, too, on a team with the defensive infrastructure to support him.

It’s not a slam dunk, but Brown looks like an excellent fit on Portland.