There’s some smoke around Celtics star Jaylen Brown and the Nuggets

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown might be traded at any moment.

And there’s some smoke around Brown and the Denver Nuggets.

Over the weekend, a handful of reports linked the former NBA Finals MVP and the Mile High City. And then on Sunday night, Bill Simmons floated an interesting rumor on his podcast.

He’s hearing about a potential blockbuster trade that could involve Jaylen Brown coming to Denver and Jamal Murray and Cameron Johnson headed to the Celtics.

Jaylen Brown to the Nuggets? 👀@BillSimmons breaks down his favorite fake trade for the Celtics star. pic.twitter.com/ndMjkYPGna

— The Ringer (@ringer) June 29, 2026

It’s curious The Ringer captioned what Simmons says as a “fake trade” considering he’s happy to go on record with “there’s a lot of smoke billowing around Denver.” Simmons believes some parts of it and not others.

After a report over the weekend said Nikola Jokic might delay signing a contract extension with the Nuggets, the front office has to be feeling pressure. Losing Jokic next summer in free agency would be an absolute disaster and slam Denver’s championship window shut. Shaking things up makes sense.

Jaylen Brown is coming off a season in which he finished sixth in NBA MVP voting. He averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists, helping lead Boston to a 56-26 record and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Much like the Nuggets they were shockingly upset in the first-round, losing to the 76ers.

Josh Kroenke has said everyone but Jokic could be on the table for a trade this offseason, but obviously moving Murray would mark the end of an era. He has three years and about $160 million left on his contract. Jaylen Brown has about $180 million on his deal remaining over the next three seasons.

Johnson is on an expiring contract this year and Simmons also floats the Celtics including Sam Hauser in the swap.

Combine this chatter with the oddsmakers giving Brown 3.5 to 1 odds to play on the Nuggets next season and it’s officially something to monitor.

Buckle up, the next few days in the NBA are about to be wild. We’ll see how much of that includes Denver as they try to keep Jokic happy and remain contenders.

Related

Peyton Watson’s contract expectations are completely out of whackFormer Nuggets guard arrested in Castle Rock for alleged shopliftingShould Nikola Jokic face backlash for taking the supermax?The Nuggets’ bottom-of-the-league offseason grade is warrantedOddsmakers have Nuggets winning near 50 games despite slow offseasonJonas Valanciunas is finally going back to Europe after Nuggets exit