Jaylen Brown traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, picks

Blaise Bourgeois

July 3, 2026

2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown has a new home, sending shockwaves throughout the NBA landscape. On Wednesday, Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.

After being taken third overall by the Boston Celtics in 2016, Brown formed a formidable partnership with Jayson Tatum, earning five NBA All-Star nods, two All-NBA Second Team honors, and, of course, an NBA title in 2024.

After Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in the 2025 NBA playoffs, the Celtics slowly deteriorated, and so did Brown’s relationship with the Celtics’ front office. The relationship soured past the point of no return, and Boston felt as if they had no choice but to trade him.

All the dominoes that fell

Boston Celtics fans were left up in arms, accepting a 36-year-old and four picks when they were in talks to land Giannis Antetokounmpo in recent weeks. The Celtics had attempted to trade Brown, as well as two first-round picks, to Milwaukee to land the “Greek Freak”.

However, the offer wasn’t enough, and the Miami Heat ended up winning the race for Antetokounmpo, with the Bucks sending him, along with Bobby Portis, to Miami for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, the 13th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft (Nate Ament), 2031 and 2033 first-round picks, a pick swap in 2030, and a second-round pick in 2033.

With Giannis off the market and Brown’s issues with Boston in the public light, the Celtics scoured the NBA landscape looking for trade partners. At times, Boston were asking for four to five first-round picks for Brown, who averaged 28.7 points per game last season.

However, the NBA GMs weren’t willing to come close to their asking price, with one GM claiming he’d be worth just “40 cents on the dollar” due to the Celtics’ proposed deal for Brown and the Brown-Celtics fallout. The GM explained, in layman’s terms, that they were looking to trade Brown for a Giannis price, though they had offered Brown plus an additional pair of first-round picks in order to try to get Giannis themselves.

At the end of the day, the Celtics had to settle for a 36-year-old aging star in Paul George and an underwhelming number of picks for a player who finished fourth in the NBA in scoring last year. Brown, notably, has scored more points in the regular season and playoffs than any other player in the league since Brown was drafted in 2016.

George has only played 78 games over the past two seasons, having also been suspended 25 games without pay in January for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. George, who has two years and $110 million left on his contract, averaged 16.7 points and 5.3 rebounds over the last two seasons.

Brown has three years and $183 million remaining on his deal and is eligible to sign another one-year extension on July 26.

Jaylen Brown speaks out

Jaylen Brown issued his first public statement since being traded from the Boston Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In a statement on Twitter, Brown wrote:

“I’m still processing how this all went down. I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city.

“I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge,” Brown said, also adding, “Saying goodbye isn’t easy when you’ve invested your heart into something.”

The new-look Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers also made an extremely savvy move on Thursday by signing Brown’s former teammate Anfernee Simons to a 2-year, $12.3 million deal, pending league approval.

Simons, who was the 24th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2018, is coming off a season in which he split time with Boston and Chicago after spending the first seven years in Portland. Simons averaged 14.3 points along with 2.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists, mainly coming off the bench.

The 76ers also drafted Labaron Philon Jr. with the 22nd overall pick, with many draft experts previously predicting he would have been drafted in the top 10 or 15.