Charles Barkley didn’t waste time softening the blow when he weighed in on Jaylen Brown landing with the 76ers. On NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Philadelphia icon treated the trade like a gift wrapped in confusion, saying, “I say, man, the Sixers just got away with murder, man,” after hearing that Brown had been dealt for Paul George and draft picks.
Barkley’s reaction was rooted in how bleak he thought Philadelphia’s outlook had been before the move. In his view, the combination of George’s contract and Joel Embiid’s health issues had the Sixers headed for a long stretch on the outside looking in. Instead, he said the Brown deal instantly changed the picture and pushed the team back into contender territory.
“I say so because, you know, they were dead in the water, to be honest with you, because with Paul’s contract and Joel’s inability to stay healthy, they were going to be out of the running for the next three to five years. And now all of a sudden they’re legit contenders.”
He also didn’t hide his skepticism about what Boston got back. Barkley questioned the Celtics’ logic in moving Brown, calling the return hard to understand and saying, “I’m not sure what the hell the Celtics were doing.”
He added, “You can stink up a good trade. Giving up an aging guy to a guy who was probably the MVP in the first half of the season.
It’s crazy,” before wrapping up that part of his comments.
The bigger question now is how Philadelphia sorts out the offense with so many ball-dominant pieces in the mix. Barkley brushed that concern aside, saying the Sixers will simply have to make it work. He pointed to Brown, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and whatever the team gets from Embiid as the ingredients of a strong group, while praising Nick Nurse as “a hell of a coach” and Brown as “a hell of a player.”
For Barkley, Maxey may be the biggest beneficiary of all. He said the guard was headed toward irrelevance if Philadelphia stayed stuck in the middle, but the Brown trade changes everything.
“But the big winner in this conversation is probably Tyrese Maxey, because he was going to be like out. He was going to be irrelevant for the next few years because the Sixers were not going to be contenders. But he’s, to me, the big winner because now they’ve got a legit shot.”
He also pointed to the state of the Eastern Conference, saying the Knicks won’t be as good next season because of free agency losses, the Celtics “are definitely not going to be as good,” and Toronto is improved. Even with that, Barkley said the Sixers have moved themselves into the contender class.
“I mean, it’s that, was I you do you go from like being irrelevant to being a serious contender in the Eastern Conference for the next few years. It’s pretty good for Philadelphia right now.”
Barkley then turned his attention to Brown himself, and he was blunt about how the star should be feeling. In his eyes, getting moved after a season like that has to sting.
“Hey, listen, he’s got to be steaming right now, to be honest with you. Number one, they gave him away for nothing,” he said.
He went on to compare Brown’s value with George’s age, saying, “Listen, Paul George was a hell of a player five years ago. No disrespect to him.
He’s aging. And you guys know players don’t get better as they get older.”
Barkley doubled down with one of his more colorful lines: “Old people don’t get healthy. They die.
I always say that all the time. You don’t get that he’s not going to get nearly as good as Jaylen Brown for the next few years.
So they gave him away for nothing.”
He said the extra edge should come from the fact that Brown will now see the Celtics several times a year, including in the playoffs. That, Barkley believes, is the kind of thing that should fuel a player all summer long.
“If this doesn’t motivate Jaylen Brown, you’re not a competitor. Because not only did you trade me after I had one of my best seasons. You’ve got to play against me four or five times a year and in the playoffs,” explained Barkley.
Brown’s 2025-26 season gives Barkley plenty of ammunition for that argument. He finished sixth in MVP voting, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 71 games while shooting 47.7% from the field and 34.7% from three.
Brown, for his part, is still working through the emotions of the move. He has said he feels disrespected by the trade and has made it clear that Boston still means a lot to him.
Speaking at a Bridge program seminar while addressing Boston’s youth, Brown said, “It’s ok, things happen. I love the city of Boston.
I always have. I’ve been here for 10 years, that’s a third of my life.
I’ll be 30 in October. So Boston is home, and no management or organization will take that away,”
He also admitted the first time he faces the Celtics is going to be strange. Talking to a Celtics fan after the seminar, Brown said, “I don’t know.
I’m probably gonna smile and laugh. I have no idea how it’s going to feel.
It’s probably gonna feel weird. It’s still weird… My brain is like, ‘Philly?
Of all places? Why would you do that?”
Brown later added, “To me, I don’t know, I’m still trying to make sense of it, still processing,”
That uncertainty hasn’t changed the bigger picture Barkley sees. He believes the trade gives Philadelphia a real path back to contention, while also handing Brown the kind of motivation that can sharpen a star. And if Brown was already the kind of player who once said he’d win five championships before turning 28, Barkley’s view is that the road to that kind of success may have just opened wider.
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