Celtics fans have spent the offseason on a wild ride with Jaylen Brown, and the final stop has been a brutal one on the surface: Brown sent to the rival 76ers for 36-year-old Paul George, 2 first-round draft picks, and 2 second-round draft picks.
That return looks rough for a player who won Finals MVP in 2024 and finished 6th in MVP voting this past season. On paper, it feels light. But the Celtics clearly spent a month shopping Brown because they didn’t believe his value lined up with his contract, and the rest of the league mostly seemed to agree once the offers were finally on the table.
Still, the trade may not be the disaster it first appeared to be.
Paul George is not some empty salary dump. His deal is expensive, but it only runs one more year before a player option, which means he could become a massive expiring contract not long from now.
He’s 36, sure, but when he was available, he was still productive. George remains a stronger shooter and defender than Brown, and there’s a real argument that his game could mesh better in Boston next to Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, and the rest of the roster.
Last season, George put up 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while hitting more than 39% of his 6.9 three-point attempts per game. He appeared in only 37 games, with a 25-game suspension for PEDs doing a lot of damage to his availability, but the numbers and the film both suggested he still had plenty left. Some advanced metrics preferred him to Brown, and he even got the better of Brown on both ends in their head-to-head playoff series.
Nobody is claiming George is the better player overall. The point is simpler than that: the gap may not be as huge as the reaction suggested, and the fit in Boston might actually be cleaner.
The draft haul also looks better once the details are unpacked.
At first glance, the pick package seemed thin. Then the structure came into focus, and it started to look a lot more meaningful.
The 2028 first-rounder headed to Boston is confusing at first, but it most likely becomes a swap for an unprotected Clippers pick. With LA having recently moved Ivica Zubac, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard, and with Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, and Keaton Wagler now part of the future, that team projects as a bottom-5 West squad.
Under the flattened lottery odds, that could turn into a very valuable asset.
The 2031 unprotected pick from Philly carries its own appeal. That’s a long horizon for a team built around Joel Embiid and Brown, and while Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe look strong now, plenty can change in five years. That pick could end up mattering a lot.
Boston also added two second-rounders: the most favorable of Golden State, Oklahoma City, and Milwaukee in 2028, plus the most favorable of Washington, Portland, and Phoenix in 2030. Those should be strong second-round selections, and those kinds of picks have become more useful around the league in recent years.
Put it all together, and the trade may end up aging better than it feels right now.
It’s still fair to call it ugly. The Celtics moved a franchise icon to a hated rival and brought back a player with one of the league’s worst contracts, plus fewer picks than many fans hoped for. But the total package isn’t as empty as it first looked.
Boston could be sitting on a $50+ million expiring contract next summer, along with 5 tradable first-round picks, 7 seconds, and a path out of the repeater tax that would give the front office room to spend and build around Tatum.
That doesn’t make the emotional hit any smaller. Fans are justified in being furious and devastated.
But the sky isn’t falling, and this front office has earned the benefit of the doubt. The loudest grades will come now, in the moment.
The real verdict, though, won’t arrive for years.
In Other News...
Celtics Free Agency Short List Includes One Reunion Fans Wont See Coming
Boston has not made a move yet as free agency gets underway, but the Celtics still have the tools to make one or two useful additions. With mid-level and bi-annual exception money available, Brad Stevens has made clear the front office wants more size and another perimeter-speed option, which keeps a few familiar types in play as the roster takes shape.
Among the names circulating are Kevon Looney, Brandon Williams and Anfernee Simons, a group that speaks to different needs depending on how Boston wants to balance the bench. Looney would fit as frontcourt depth, Williams brings a different kind of guard pressure, and Simons adds the most intriguing wrinkle of all after already spending time with the Celtics before landing in Chicago. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics May Already Have Their Jaylen Brown Replacement In Mind
Bostons next move may already be taking shape after the Jaylen Brown trade, with the front office now looking to turn the assets from that deal into a new wing piece. The Celtics picked up future first-round capital in the swap, and that kind of flexibility is exactly what tends to matter when a team is trying to stay competitive while retooling on the fly.
One name drawing interest is Trey Murphy III, a young Pelicans forward under contract for three more years and the type of player who fits the modern Boston blueprint. The question is whether New Orleans would even entertain moving him this summer, and if it does, the Celtics would not be alone in the chase. [Read more 🡒]
Former Celtics Champion Rips Brad Stevens Over Stunning Franchise Move
Kendrick Perkins did not wait long to weigh in on Bostons stunning decision to move Jaylen Brown, and his criticism landed with the kind of force that tends to follow a franchise-changing trade. The former Celtics champion singled out Brad Stevens and the organizations direction, treating the deal as the sort of move that instantly changes how the front office is judged.
What makes the reaction linger is the uncertainty around what comes next. Boston has not offered an official explanation for the trade, and it is still not clear whether this is the first step in a broader reshaping of the roster or the kind of splashy gamble the Celtics will have to defend on its own merits. For now, the move has left more questions than answers, with Stevens and company carrying the burden of proving there is a coherent plan behind it. [Read more 🡒]