The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. And if you listened to Boston sports radio afterward, you’d think the franchise had just set its conference finals trophy on fire.
Brown, the reigning Finals MVP, went to Philly for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. George is 36 and has a history of injuries. Brown turned 29 in October and just averaged 28.7 points per game while carrying Boston to the No. 2 seed after Jayson Tatum went down with a torn Achilles.
Tony Massarotti of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz” didn’t hold back. “It was a money dump. That’s all it was,” Massarotti said. “And the Celtics now today are worse than they were yesterday.”
The local reaction was brutal
CBS Sports’ Noah Buono graded the deal with a string of F’s. “Everything about it is an F, F, F, F grade for the Boston Celtics,” Buono said. “I cannot believe it.”
Mark Dondero, also from 98.5, went further. “The package that the Boston Celtics got back for Jaylen Brown is disgusting,” Dondero said. “Their chance to win a championship is over. They’re not contenders.”
On his podcast “The Sitdown,” Malik Wright said the trade blew past anything he’d imagined. “In the year 2026, we’re trading an MVP front-runner at points this season for Paul George,” Wright said.
The anger makes sense. Brown was the engine while Tatum rehabbed. Sending him to a division rival for an aging star with a spotty health record and a modest draft haul looks like a salary dump more than a basketball move.
The backstory makes it worse
According to reports, Boston had been working on a package to land Giannis Antetokounmpo before the Bucks sent him to Miami. That fell through. The Celtics pivoted to the George deal, which trimmed their payroll but left the roster thinner and the conference stronger.
For Philadelphia, Brown joins Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe. That core just knocked Boston out of the playoffs. Now it gets better. The Celtics get cap relief and a 36-year-old wing coming off another injury-shortened season.
The noise out of Boston isn’t going to quiet down anytime soon. Not when the team you just traded your best player to is the one that ended your season. Not when the guy you got back might need maintenance days by Christmas.
Leave a Comment