7/2/2026
(Photo Credit Boston Celtics Web Page)
(Boston, MA) This story has been bubbling for quite some time and came to a head when it was reported the Milwaukee narrowed who they were going to trade with for Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami and Boston. The Celtics were willing to trade star Jayln Brown and draft picks for Antetokounmpo. But the Bucks went with the Miami offer instead.
Next was an interest with Minnesota for a package but the Timberwolves made a deal to bring LaMelo Ball in from Carolina.
Following the no thank-you from Milwaukee and Minnesaota the rumors were flying that Brown still had to go. Coupling the massive salary it would have required to keep him and whether or not he truly fit with what the Celtics want to do, it appeared to be a choice between Brown and Jayson Tatum and they clearly wanted Tatum.
Boston’s zeal to ship Brown out was accomplished when it was reported the Celtics are sending Brown to their division rival Philadelphia in exchange for a package topped with Boston getting Paul George and some draft picks.
Much like when Dallas stunned the basketball world and traded Luka Dončić , there will be many who think this is a bad idea from the start. Then, much like Dončić, there are many who felt he had to go, that he was not going to get into playing shape and be available as a Maverick.
You will always have that debate but the bigger issue with the Dončić trade was what little they got in return. The Mav’s got from the Lakers the oft injured Anthony Davis and a 1st round draft pick. That was not much in return for a genuine superstar. Dallas lucked out when they won the draft lottery and got the first pick to take another potential superstar in Cooper Flagg.
In this trade, Boston gets an older NBA veteran that has shown flashes but is another who often unavailable and has never reached the finals. Three season ago, George played in 74 games with the Clippers. The last two seasons combined he has played in 41 and 37 games or just barely more than the 74 he did in 2023-24. In fact, George hasn’t played in more than 56 games since 2018-19 except for 2023-24.
Will Boston be able to pull out players in the draft with the two #1 picks and two #2 picks this deal includes from Philly? The 76er’s have been disappointing for years themselves but seems unlikely they are going to completely fall off a cliff setting up Boston with a top 3 or even a top 5 pick.
Certainally feels like there is much more to this behind the scenes and maybe it was just a situation the Celtics needed to make a deal regardless but boy this feels like ten miles from nearly getting Antetokounmpo.
There are a pair of stories that shine more light on this interesting trade. First, Ben Rohrbach has the initial trade story followed by Chris Cwik who reports some of the behind the scenes issues that may be the catalyst for having to move on from Brown. Both Rohrbeck and Cwik write for Yahoo Sports. Links to the stories are below.
Boston sends Jaylen Brown to Philly by Ben Rohrbach, Yahoo Sports
Social Media may have pushed Celtics to move Brown by Chris Cwik, Yahoo Sports
www.elisportsnetwork.com
