Jaylen Brown Is Going To Philadelphia And Paul George Is Coming To Boston In A Trade That Nobody Saw Coming

The Boston Celtics are trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Wednesday.

The deal reunites Brown with Joel Embiid in Philadelphia and gives Boston a veteran wing scorer to replace him alongside Jayson Tatum as the Celtics defend their 2025 NBA championship.

Brown, 29, has been Tatum's co-star in Boston for nine seasons and won a championship alongside him last year.

He is averaging 26.6 points per game over his career's last two seasons and is signed through 2027-28.

Trading him means Boston is betting that Paul George, 36 years old, 35.8 million per year through 2027-28, is enough of a replacement alongside Tatum that the picks make the deal worth it. It is a significant bet.

George averaged 22.9 points last season for the 76ers in a year where Philadelphia missed the playoffs and the partnership with Embiid never found consistent footing.

He is a 10-time All-Star and one of the more reliable two-way wings of his generation at his best. He is also 36.

The Celtics are trading a 29-year-old All-Star for a 36-year-old All-Star and draft picks on the theory that Tatum plus George plus the new pieces they have been adding gives them the best path forward.

For Philadelphia, Brown and Embiid is the headline. Two of the most talented players in the Eastern Conference on the same team, in a city that has not made serious noise in the playoffs since the last Embiid run. The trades go live July 6.