In a surprise move, Boston traded the All-Star guard to division rival Philadelphia for Paul George and a draft pick.
Published July 2, 2026
Jaylen Brown’s time in Boston came to a surprising end when the Celtics decided to trade him to one of their most storied rivals.
Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer last season, will be traded from the Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers, a person familiar with the terms of the deal said Wednesday night.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The trade has not yet received the necessary league approvals, and Boston is acquiring Paul George and a significant amount of draft capital, potentially resulting in two first-round picks and two second-round picks, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
ESPN first reported the trade deal, and the Boston Globe later confirmed its terms.
Brown’s newest NBA star traded to join Antetokounmpo, Leonard
Add this news to the list of blockbuster moves across the NBA so far this offseason.
LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram are also in attendance.
Well, this.
“Welcome to Philadelphia, JB!” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on social media. “The Sixers have gotten a lot better and the Celtics have gotten a lot worse!”
It’s a move that disrupts one of the league’s most successful one-two punches of Brown and Jayson Tatum, who led the Celtics to the 2024 NBA title.
With Tatum missing most of last season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon that occurred during the 2025 playoffs, Brown had to carry even more of the weight for Boston, ending up averaging career-highs of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
But Brown likely felt undervalued, especially after it became known that Boston had included Brown in trade talks with Milwaukee while Antetokounmpo was on sale.
“No one has won more regular season and playoff games combined since I entered the league 10 years ago,” Brown posted on social media over the weekend. He’s right. Including playoff contention, the Celtics have won 523 games with Brown in the lineup, six more than Denver has won in that span with Nikola Jokic.
Brown will be part of a Philadelphia team along with guard Tyrese Maxey and center Joel Embiid, who Brown recently called a flopper on a livestream.
“Joel Embiid is a great player. One of the greatest failures in the history of fucking basketball,” Brown said. “He knows that. This is not breaking news.”
Brown, Maxey (the league’s fifth leading scorer last season), and Embiid (two-time NBA scorer) could be a positively terrifying trio for Philadelphia, and the Celtics’ decision to play a role in forming such a triumvirate only adds to the intrigue surrounding why they wanted to trade Brown in the first place.
The trade ended a very disappointing two-year tenure for George, who was traded with two years left on his four-year, $212 million free agent contract. The 36-year-old hasn’t matched his nine-time All-Star performance in Philadelphia, and his tenure was marred by a 25-game suspension last season for failing a drug test.
He topped the 20-point mark in nine consecutive seasons with Indiana, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers, but averaged just 16.7 points in two seasons with Philadelphia.
