Early into the evening of July 1, 2026, NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news that the Boston Celtics had traded forward Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward Paul George, first-round picks in 2028 and 2031, and second-round picks in 2028 and 2030.
This is yet another league-altering move in an already monumentally erratic 2026 NBA offseason that has seen several other superstars dealt to new teams. Unfortunately for Boston, the Jaylen Brown trade might be seen as the worst move of the summer when everything is said and done.
Let’s dive into the move and its ramifications for both teams.
It’s hard to understate the success of Brown’s tenure in Boston. He and fellow superstar Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to two NBA Finals appearances in 2022 and 2024 and an NBA championship in 2024, with Brown taking home the Finals MVP award.
During Brown’s nine-year stint in Boston, the team has made the playoffs every season and has not finished with a losing record once. That’s some unbelievable success for Brown and Tatum with a franchise with such a rich and successful history.
As for Brown’s personal success, he has amassed five All-Star selections and two All-NBA selections over his near decade in a Celtics uniform. He’s also averaged over 20 points per game every year since the 2019-2020 NBA season.
Jaylen Brown’s contributions to championship basketball have been undeniable, and Boston’s success with him and Jayson Tatum on the floor has been equally prolific.
The real kicker of Brown’s tenure in Boston came during the 2025-2026 NBA season, during which Jayson Tatum missed all but 16 regular-season games while rehabbing a torn Achilles he suffered during the 2025 NBA playoffs. Tatum’s injury was a crushing blow to the Celtics’ NBA title defense in 2024.
In the absence of Tatum, Brown put together a truly sensational campaign in what many NBA fans believed would be a rebuild year for the Celtics.
This past season, Brown averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game, all while converting 47.7% of his field goal attempts and logging a true shooting percentage of 57.3%.
As for the accolades Brown accumulated during this past season, he was awarded a 2nd Team All-NBA selection, an All-Star appearance, and finished sixth in MVP voting across the league.
This was Brown’s best statistical season of his career so far, and the Celtics capped it off by shipping him to Philadelphia for a lackluster return.
The worst part of the entire situation for Boston may just be that Brown and Tatum never got to shine alongside one another for an entire regular season and playoff run again after their first NBA Finals win.
Philly managed to land Brown without giving up any of their young core. This was a shock to the NBA community, especially because the 76ers are currently rostering youthful phenoms like Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe.
For Philadelphia to emerge on the other side of this blockbuster trade with their potentially elite offensive core still intact is nothing short of astonishing.
They now have a ridiculous starting lineup at their disposal that includes Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, and former NBA MVP Joel Embiid. If Embiid can stay healthy, there’s no telling how far this group can go. However, that is a big ask.
Still, a newfound hope resides in Philadelphia, while a general feeling of uneasiness has settled around Boston. A major question remains: What was the motivation behind this trade for Boston?
It’s difficult to find a clear motive for Boston behind this move. Sure, they acquire a few picks a couple of years down the line to retool their roster with. And Paul George has been a superstar in the past, but he’s nowhere near Brown at this point in his career, even when simply observing his availability.
George has played over 50 games just three times over the last seven seasons. He’s also 36 years old, hasn’t averaged over 20 points per game since 2024, and averaged fewer assists and rebounds than Jaylen Brown last season on only somewhat comparable efficiency from the floor.
Based simply on what we’ve seen, there’s no reason to believe George will replicate Brown’s level of production in Boston.
When comparing the Jaylen Brown trade move to other recent NBA moves involving superstars, it’s clear Boston made a poor choice.
It’s not a good thing for the Celtics that their return for Jaylen Brown is comparable to what the Jazz received in exchange for center Walker Kessler, who was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers on the same day.
Their haul was also considerably less than what the Los Angeles Clippers acquired for trading veteran superstar forward Kawhi Leonard back to the Toronto Raptors.
A storyline from earlier this offseason comes to mind when searching for Boston’s reasoning behind this decision. According to Shams Charania, the Celtics were attempting to deal Jaylen Brown and two first-round picks to the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade that would’ve netted them former NBA MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was instead traded to Miami for several young assets and picks.
Is it possible Brown wanted out after learning the team found him expendable enough to offer in a trade for another superstar? That could certainly be the case. This situation still wouldn’t move the blame off of Boston’s shoulders.
It’s also possible that Brown and the Celtics’ front office had a difficult relationship behind closed doors, but that would be hard to believe after Brown enjoyed his best season yet along with the team earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Jaylen Brown even stated that the 2025-2026 season was one of the most fun he’s experienced over the course of his career, also saying at one point that he could play in Boston for the “next ten years”.
Unless Boston has another major move in mind, the court of public opinion will likely not be kind to them about the Jaylen Brown trade.
In the end, more will come out about Boston’s motives behind this blockbuster move over the coming days and weeks, and we will certainly learn more about the nature of Brown’s relationship with the Celtics soon enough.
For now, everything is conjecture. However, it’s clear that Boston somehow lost leverage in trade discussions surrounding Jaylen Brown after being unable to get a better return for their superstar, even after the end of the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.
Perhaps no one was willing to pay their initial asking price, and they felt it was too late to back down from trading Jaylen Brown. Either way, this trade will be remembered for years to come.
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