The next Jaylen Brown? Three high-paid NBA players whose contracts could eventually make them trade candidates

Key Points:

• The Boston Celtics' 2024 championship was achieved with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown accounting for about 47% of the salary cap, but by 2027, their combined cap hit is projected to rise to roughly 70%, which is considered unsustainable for building a championship team.
• Historical data from the past 15 NBA champions shows that successful teams typically allocate around 54% of the salary cap to their two highest-paid players, with only the 2021-22 Golden State Warriors exceeding 61%, highlighting the difficulty of winning with two supermax contracts consuming a large portion of the cap.
• The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to avoid the financial strain of paying two players such a large share of the cap and attempted to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, despite his age and injury risk, fits their needs better and justifies a similar financial commitment.
• Other players like De’Aaron Fox and Donovan Mitchell are identified as potential future "cap casualties" due to their large contracts relative to team salary caps and the challenges their teams face in maintaining roster depth while paying them supermax deals.
• The Orlando Magic face a similar issue with a core of four players projected to consume about 93% of the cap by 2027-28, which may force them to make difficult roster decisions despite their current status as a Play-In Tournament team.