Analysis: Jaylen Brown's Shocking Trade to Philadelphia For Paul George, Picks

Analysis: Jaylen Brown's Shocking Trade to Philadelphia For Paul George, Picks

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The Jaylen Brown saga is not only over, it has ended in absolutely shocking fashion. 

The Boston Celtics are sending Brown to the rival Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first round picks, and two second round picks. It is a decidedly underwhelming return that changes the Celtics’ calculus a bit. 

First, let's start on the court, where George is still a fine basketball player, but at 36 years old, he’s nowhere near what Jaylen Brown is consistently. George is often injured, playing a combined 78 games over the last two regular seasons in Philadelphia, and only one full season since leaving the OKC Thunder in 2019. When healthy, he can approximate some of the things Brown does, but he can't do them at the same level, nor for as long as he used to. He has averaged 16.7 points per game with the Sixers, but he shot 37.5% from three in that time, which is an improvement over Brown’s 34.7% last season and 35.8% over his career. 

Financially, there are no savings in the short term because George has a trade kicker that brings him up to the same 35% max salary as Brown. The difference, though, is that George only has two seasons left on his deal, the last of which is a player option which he will undoubtedly pick up. Brown has three seasons left, and is looking for a max extension. 

What this signals is another summer of trade talks next year as the Celtics shop George's expiring contract in an effort to get a long-term solution next to Jayson Tatum. George is essentially a stopgap solution who, at best, can give the Celtics some decent enough production and a style of play that doesn’t blow up their play style. At worst, he’ll only be available sporadically and this upcoming season will mirror last year’s “gap” year with Tatum playing Brown’s role. 

The Celtics are certainly not punting on the season, but they also aren't going for it either. Obviously, they have Tatum and other really good players, so they'll be in the playoff mix. The addition of Mitchell Robinson shores up a weakness, and a bounce back season from Derrick White would keep them in contention for a top-four seed. But losing a star of Brown's caliber obviously holds them back some. 

Meanwhile, the Sixers are starting to look like a real threat. Brown, along with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe form a pretty formidable backcourt. The big question for them is the hierarchy. With Joel Embiid clearly in the later stages of his career, Maxey appeared to be stepping into the number one role. Brown is coming off his best season as a pro, and the perception is that he wanted to lead his own team. If there's any benefit of the doubt to give Brad Stevens right now, it's that he has sent Brown to a situation where his role is still questioned, which has at least some potential to cause friction.

Brown has also been very critical of Embiid, going on a rant calling him a flopper after Boston’s playoff loss to Philadelphia. That will make for at least some awkward initial conversations in the Sixers locker room. 

That all may be a reach, but it's worth keeping an eye on at the very least. However, it's much more likely that Brown will relish the opportunity to lift a rival past his former team. By going to Philadelphia, he will have plenty of chances to put on a show against the Celtics. And nothing will ingratiate someone with Sixers fans more than trashing Boston. 

There is also the matter of Brad Stevens’ handling of this saga. It’s hard to see this return and not think Boston should have just added whatever was necessary to get Giannis Antetokounmpo. My only conclusion here is that Boston only wanted Antetokounmpo in exchange for limited assets because they weren’t truly targeting him as an answer. I have to give credit here to Sam Sheehan, a former Celtics blogger who came out of writing hibernation to pen a pretty on-point assessment of that pursuit.

He wrote, “While they take a bit of a mystique hit, I think “missing out” on the Giannis trade also had the added bonus of giving the Celtics front office the circumstantial cover to trade Brown when they really wanted to do it all along. This way there’s a “Well we had to give it our best shot for Giannis, but now that this is out there, I guess we gotta flip Jaylen. Sorry about wasting another year of your prime Jayson! Give us a year and we will make it up to you!” 

Where Stevens seems to have mishandled the situation is his assessment of the market for Brown. It feels like he walked into the summer thinking he’d get a massive haul for an All-NBA player in his prime. However, teams weren’t willing to pony up anywhere near the assets he was looking for, partly because Brown’s salary was too prohibitive. The apron system was just too unforgiving, which could be a signal for how max contracts are doled out down the road.

A full accounting of Brown's legacy in Boston is better served in a separate space, but it's clear that he leaves as one of Boston's greats. He scored 13,474 regular season points for Boston, good for 10th on the all-time list. He’s a champion and a Finals MVP. What he accomplished in Boston, both on and off the court. 

It's a shocking end to his time in Boston, but it's time that should be remembered fondly. It's still a mystery as to why the Celtics felt the need to move him so suddenly, and so urgently. This goes down as one of the more unusual chapters in Celtics history, made even more bizarre by how it ended. 

No matter the reasoning, it's clear that this is very much the beginning of a longer than expected road back to contention for Boston. 

John Karalis is a 20-year veteran of Celtics coverage and was nominated for NSMA's Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016 and has written two books about the Celtics. John was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI. He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Men’s Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder. He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball (Greece). John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997. He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor. He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018. John is one of Boston’s original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006. In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.