PHILADELPHIA — In a trade that blindsided the NBA world, Jaylen Brown is leaving the Boston Celtics and heading to the Philadelphia 76ers, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade still awaits required league approval.
The move creates an instant All-Star trio in Philadelphia, uniting Brown with center Joel Embiid and guard Tyrese Maxey — plus second-year standout VJ Edgecombe — and immediately restores the Sixers to title-contender status.
There’s just one wrinkle: Brown once publicly called Embiid a flopper during a livestream following an early playoff exit while he was still in Boston.
“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said at the time. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”
Now the two will have to figure out how to be teammates.
In exchange for Brown, Boston receives Paul George along with a collection of draft picks that could amount to two first-round selections and two second-round picks, per the source.
Maxey wasted no time reacting to the news on social media Wednesday night, writing: “The nba is doing that THING AGAIN.”
The trade is seen as a major win for Philadelphia right out of the gate. New team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey — just one month into the job — managed to move George’s contract, which had two years and $110 million remaining, in exchange for a legitimate superstar. Brown, who is 29 years old, finished sixth in NBA MVP voting this past season and averaged career highs in points (28.7), rebounds (6.9), and assists (5.1) — numbers he put up largely while Jayson Tatum was limited to just 16 regular-season games recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
George, 36, was suspended 25 games for failing a drug test and appeared in only 78 total games during his time with the Sixers. He has played more than 56 games in a season just once since 2019. His contract had widely been considered untradeable.
Brown still has three seasons and approximately $182 million left on a five-year, $304 million supermax contract he signed in 2023 — at the time the largest deal in league history.
The Celtics had originally shopped Brown in a failed attempt to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee. After the first round of the NBA draft, Boston’s president of basketball operations Brad Stevens stopped short of confirming how close that deal came to happening, but insisted Brown remained part of the team’s plans.
“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us. I don’t want to predict the future. I look at it as this is our team,” Stevens said.
That is no longer the case. Brown now becomes a central piece of Philadelphia’s championship pursuit — a franchise that was swept by the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the second round of the playoffs this past season, after rallying from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate Boston in the first round. By Wednesday night, the Sixers had climbed to third among sportsbooks to win the Eastern Conference.
Gansey had addressed the question of competing on two timelines at his introductory press conference last month, dismissing the framing entirely.
“I just don’t look at it as two timelines,” Gansey said. “They’re our four guys. They’re under contract. We’ve got to do the best to get them to their best selves. I think every night, at 7 o’clock, we’ve got to get them to their best to help us.”
Brown arrives in Philadelphia motivated and with something to prove. Before Antetokounmpo was eventually dealt to the Heat, Brown posted a video on Twitch previewing his mindset.
“To all the people that’s doubted me, that want me to do this, or want me, you’re turning me into a monster,” Brown said.
His arrival also gives the Sixers a reliable second option during the stretches when Embiid is sidelined with injuries — a recurring problem that has left Maxey trying to carry the team alone. With Brown now in the fold, Philadelphia has a safety net that previous superstar additions like Harden, Butler, and George never quite provided in the postseason.
The Sixers are betting that this time, the formula works — and that Brown, Embiid, and Maxey can do what the Knicks finally accomplished this season: win an NBA title for the first time in decades.
