A titanic trade in the NBA’s Atlantic Division officially ends the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown era and sends Paul George to Beantown.
Brown could apparently do no more for green.
A new contender for the most monumental trade of the NBA offseason emerged on Wednesday evening. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George and a plethora of picks.
Thus ends the Brown era in Boston, which began when the Celtics made him the third pick of the 2016 draft. Brown and Jayson Tatum (chosen in the same slot the very next draft) united to drag the Celtics out of their post-Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce malaise.
Since Brown took the floor out of Cal-Berkeley, the Celtics have posted a .663 winning percentage in the regular season, by far the best in the Association. The Celtics returned to the NBA Finals for the first time in a dozen years with Brown leading the way in 2022 and won their 18th championship two years later. Brown took home MVP honors in a five-game victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
“My understanding is Jaylen Brown through all of this, never requested a trade. He never asked out of Boston.”@ShamsCharania on the Celtics trading Brown to the 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks
pic.twitter.com/YUTqRV02LD
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 1, 2026
Brown averaged 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 10 green seasons, including respective career-bests of 28.7, 6.9, and 5.1 last time around after he assumed full-time headlining duties when Tatum missed most of the year with an injury. He repped the Celtics in five All-Star Games and is currently in the franchise’s all-time top 10 in points (13,474), steals (684), and triple-doubles (6).
But Boston’s post-championship attempts to remain financially compliant with the second apron took a toll on its attempt to win a 19th title. Champions Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis all moved elsewhere last summer, and many pegged Brown to be next with a potential gap year brought about by Tatum’s injury on the horizon.
Why Did the Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown?
Brown instead responded with a career-best season that moved the Celtics to the second seed on the Eastern Conference bracket. It wasn’t enough to avoid a depressing divisional fate, however, as the Celtics fell to George and the Sixers in the opening round of the Eastern playoffs. It was the first time they fell in the opening round since 2021.
But Brown’s personal bests apparently weren’t enough to keep him off the trade block. He was reportedly dangled in front of Milwaukee in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, but Boston lost out on the Greek Freak’s services to the Miami Heat. ESPN Research noted that Brown is the fifth player in league history to be traded within three years of winning the Finals MVP Award: Kevin Durant (Golden State to Brooklyn) was the last in 2019, while the Celtics previously engaged in such a practice with Jo Jo White (Boston to Golden State) in 1979.
Trading Brown was a busy day for Boston, which also acquired Mike Conley and Mitchell Robinson from Minnesota and New York, respectively. The Celtics acquired the 36-year-old George, who appeared in only 37 games last season, his second in Philadelphia. He averaged 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds and lost 25 games due to a violation of the league drug policy for an “improper medication.”
Charania’s report indicates that, in addition to George, the Celtics also acquire an unprotected 2031 first-round pick from Philadelphia and a 2028 first-rounder that could become a swap. Boston also gets second-round picks in 2028 and 2030. The first in that last batch will be either Golden State, Milwaukee, or Oklahoma City, and the latter currently belongs to either Phoenix, Portland, or Washington (most favorable in both cases).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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