The 76ers have built themselves into a team with a whole lot of talent and not a lot of obvious order, and Jaylen Brown sits right at the center of that mess.
Brown is coming off the highest-usage season of his career, a year in which he got to be the clear alpha in Boston while Jayson Tatum recovered from an Achilles injury. By Brown’s own standard, it was his favorite season. Now he’s in Philadelphia, where the ball already has plenty of mouths to feed.
The Sixers had Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe in place before adding LeBron James and Anfernee Simons. That gives them six players who are used to having the ball, who don’t lack confidence, and who all have at least some case for being the guy. If Brown wanted his own team, Philadelphia is not exactly the cleanest landing spot.
What the Sixers have now is a star-heavy roster with an awkward fit and no clear pecking order. For this thing to have a chance, sacrifice is going to have to come from everywhere, and Brown may be the biggest swing factor. He’s going to have to adjust fast, accept a smaller role, and lean into the parts of his game that don’t require him to dominate the offense.
He’s capable of doing that. He has spent his entire career alongside stars in Boston, after all.
But this setup feels like another level entirely, especially with so many players who are most comfortable when the ball is in their hands. The question isn’t whether Brown can play alongside talent.
It’s whether he can truly scale back to a level he hasn’t needed in years and make defense and transition a bigger part of his night.
Brad Stevens apparently didn’t think Brown would be willing to do that in Boston, and now the hope is that being traded pushes him into a different mindset in Philadelphia. Shams Charania of ESPN said on NBA Today, “One person around Jaylen Brown told me today, he’s gonna approach this with no ego."
That sounds promising, but words are cheap in a situation like this. Brown is coming off a sixth-place MVP finish, nearly 30 points per game, second-team All-NBA honors, and a run that helped Boston to the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Now he has to share the floor with two former league MVPs who will be part-time players and a 25-year-old rising star in Maxey. Brown may see himself as the alpha here, and he might not be wrong. But whether he’s willing to take a step back when the games start will be one of the defining questions of the season.
In Other News...
Brad Stevens May Have Just Pulled His Most Belichick Move Yet
Brad Stevens has never been shy about making the kind of front-office move that forces a second look, and this latest one fits that mold. The Celtics president of basketball operations has already shown a willingness to take heat when he believes the long view is worth it, whether it was dealing Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis or sending a first-round pick to bring Al Horford back into the fold.
Now he has made a deal that has plenty of people around the league talking, and not all of it is flattering. The logic is easy to question when the return includes an aging Paul George, but Stevens has built a reputation for betting on uncomfortable decisions and living with the fallout until the results catch up. The part that matters most for Boston is whether this is another one of those moves that looks risky now and much smarter later. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Deadline Decision May Have Changed LeBrons Entire Free Agency
Golden State spent part of LeBron James free agency trying to bring him into the fold, but the Warriors never got the star they were chasing. The bigger twist for Boston fans is how Jaylen Brown fit into the picture, with Philadelphias move to land him becoming the kind of roster swing that can reshape the entire market around a player of James stature.
The Warriors had a chance to get Brown earlier in the season, but the price in future draft capital was too steep for them to bite. Now that decision looks even larger in hindsight, because Browns presence in Philadelphia appears to have helped steer James toward the 76ers and away from Golden State, turning one deadline choice into a ripple effect that reached all the way into free agency. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Could Open Next Season In Their Most Brutal Scenario Yet
The Celtics have spent the past couple of years on the wrong end of a changing Eastern Conference pecking order, and the latest wrinkle is a reminder that the calendar can turn fast in the NBA. Boston opened the 2024 season with the Knicks in the building to watch the Celtics raise banner No. 18, and the matchup turned into a lopsided night for New York before the rivalry shifted into a much different place.
Now there is fresh chatter that the next season could begin with the same teams, only with the setting flipped and the stakes even more charged. The idea of Boston walking into Madison Square Garden for New Yorks banner night would fit the recent arc of these franchises, with the Knicks celebrating their rise and the Celtics trying to steady themselves after a stretch defined by injuries, roster turnover and playoff frustration. [Read more 🡒]