Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been traded to the 76ers for Paul George, two first round picks and two second round picks as the NBA's dizzying summer of moves rages on.
Brown was the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league's fourth-leading scorer this past season, and goes to long-time rival 76ers after being beaten 4-3 in a playoff series by his new team with Boston in May.
The move is one of a number of blockbuster trades including All-Star-caliber players across the NBA so far this offseason, including LeBron James leaving the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has also been traded from Milwaukee to Miami, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram headlined a swap between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, and Ja Morant was dealt to Portland by Memphis.
Welcome to Philly, JB!" Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro posted on social media. "Sixers get way better and, as a bonus, the Celtics got worse!"
It's a move that breaks up what has been one of the league's most successful 1-2 punches in Brown and Jayson Tatum, who helped carry the Celtics to the 2024 NBA title.
Tatum missed most of this past season while recovering from an Achilles tear that happened during the 2025 playoffs, meaning Brown had to carry even more of the load for Boston - and he wound up with career-best averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
It seemed, though, that Brown has felt underappreciated, especially after it became known that Boston had included him in trade talks with Milwaukee when Antetokounmpo was on the market.
"Nobody has won more combined regular-season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago," Brown posted on social media over the weekend. He's right: The Celtics have won 523 games with Brown in the lineup, including playoff contests, which is six more than Denver has won with Nikola Jokic over that span.
Brown forms a a new Eastern Conference powerhouse with Tyrese Maxey (the league's No 5 scorer this past season) and Joel Embiid (a two-time NBA scoring champion).
The trade ends a tremendously disappointing two-year stint for George, who was traded with two years left on a four-year, $212 million free-agent contract. The 36-year-old George never approached his nine-time All-Star form in Philadelphia and his tenure was marred by a 25-game suspension last season for flunking a drug test.
He averaged just 16.7 points in his two seasons in Philadelphia after topping the 20-point mark in nine straight seasons with Indiana, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers.
