The Jaylen Brown era in Boston lasted a full decade, but now it is over. The Celtics traded the 2024 NBA Finals MVP to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and four draft picks Wednesday.
The move came days after Boston’s failed pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, sending Brown to the same Eastern Conference rival that eliminated the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
NBA World Reacts to the Blockbuster
Reaction across the league was immediate and lopsided toward Philadelphia. Allen Iverson, the Hall of Fame guard who spent 10 seasons with the 76ers, posted his support on Instagram, writing “Let’s Go jack!!! #Throwtheballup!!!”
Another former 76er, Patrick Beverley, offered a blunter take.
“Disappointed in Boston. Philly wins that trade,” Beverley wrote in an Instagram post.
Former NBA guard Jeff Teague devoted an emergency podcast episode to breaking down Brown’s new situation in Philadelphia and what it means for the rest of his career.
Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, a longtime mentor to Brown, had said on his own podcast before the trade that frustration had been building for Brown within the Celtics organization, according to ESPN. Widespread commentary from players and insiders labeled the return for Brown lopsided in Philadelphia’s favor, Yahoo Sports reported in its roundup.
Boston now belongs to Tatum alone. The Celtics banked four draft picks in the deal, a bet that rebuilding beats paying two max stars in the luxury-tax era.
Jaylen Brown Trade Shocks the NBA
The Celtics are sending the five-time All-Star to Philadelphia in exchange for George, a 2028 first-round pick that could convert to a more favorable swap, an unprotected 2031 first-rounder, and two second-round picks, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Brown reportedly never asked out of Boston. The Celtics had been shopping him aggressively across the league after offering him, along with two unprotected first-round picks, to the Milwaukee Bucks for Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee sent the two-time MVP to Miami instead.
Celtics president Brad Stevens had called Brown a “big part” of the franchise’s future just weeks earlier, and Brown himself said he wanted to stay in Boston long-term if it were up to him, according to ESPN.
Brown’s exit closes out a decade that turned him from a defensive-minded rookie into a championship centerpiece. Boston took him third overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, and he became a five-time All-Star alongside Jayson Tatum, winning Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP in Boston’s 2024 title run. With Tatum sidelined for most of this past season recovering from an Achilles injury, Brown carried Boston to 56 wins and the No. 2 seed in the East, only to fall to Philadelphia in the first round.
Boston Celtics Land Aging Star, Draft Capital
George, 36, is a nine-time All-Star who averaged 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds across 78 games over the past two seasons in Philadelphia. He was suspended 25 games in January for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy before returning in March and playing well in the postseason, according to ESPN.
Sportsbooks reacted immediately. Philadelphia’s championship odds jumped from 60-1 to 22-1, while Boston’s dropped from plus-700 to 10-1, according to ESPN.
Brown now joins Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe in Philadelphia, the same roster that eliminated Boston this spring in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Brown called Embiid a flopper on a livestream after that series.
“Joel Embiid is a great player. One of the best bigs in basketball history. [But he] flops. He know it,” Brown said. Now he is Embiid’s teammate.
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