The Boston Celtics traded former Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers on July 1 for Paul George and draft capital, ESPN’s “NBA Insider” Shams Charania reported.
Boston received first-round picks in 2028 and 2031, and 2028 and 2030 second-round picks as part of the deal.
“By today, [the Celtics] were actively shopping, full-blown shopping, Jaylen Brown around the league, trying to get teams’ best offers in,” Charania said. “My understanding is Jaylen Brown, throughout all this, never requested a trade. He never asked out of Boston. This was all the Celtics.”
Boston originally offered Brown and two first-round picks in a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who Milwaukee eventually traded to the Miami Heat on June 22.
Charania said after the Boston-Milwaukee trade didn’t go through, Boston began seeking four or five first-round picks for Brown which it was unable to get.
“After that Giannis deal did not go through for Boston, Jaylen Brown did feel a level of disrespect,” he said. “When you shop a player like this, not only do you rub him the wrong way but also his value plummets.”
Charania said for the 76ers to acquire a player at the level of Brown, in his prime, for draft assets and George, who’s seven years older, it sent shock waves throughout the league.
Brown, 29, played 10 seasons for Boston—nine of those alongside superstar Jayson Tatum.
Together, the duo made five conference finals, two finals, and won a championship in 2024, beating the Dallas Mavericks 4–1 in the finals.
Since 2016, when Brown was drafted, no players have had more playoff wins than Brown and Tatum.
Brown is coming off his best individual season where he averaged approximately 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and finished sixth in MVP voting.
However, the Celtics blew a 3–1 lead in the first round to Brown’s new team and divisional rival, Philadelphia.
As speculation of a potential Brown trade ramped up, discussion began to circulate over Brown’s true value, especially after ESPN analyst Bobby Marks said, “I had an analytics guy tell me, ‘We view [Jaylen Brown] as the seventh-best player on a TEAM.’”
Brown said in response on X, “Analytics nowadays used to discredit and control narratives - Roll the ball out none of these guys better than me on both ends who does he work for.”
“Analytics have / are ruining the game we playing AI hoops,” he added.
Marks replied to Brown’s comment, saying, “What wasn’t posted was the 2 [minutes] of saying I’m not an analytics person but an eye test guy. That I would want Jaylen Brown on my team. That you impact winning (191-80 in the last 4 years), is a top-10 player and would help any team looking to win a championship. That part of course didn’t make it. But that’s the media in 2026.”
The trade pairs Brown with former MVP Joel Embiid and two-time all star Tyrese Maxey, giving the 76ers a strong roster heading into the 2026–27 season after the team just got swept by the eventual champion New York Knicks in the second round.
