The Celtics and 76ers will meet twice in the 2026-27 preseason, and both games will carry an emotional weight that exhibition basketball usually lacks. Boston hosts Philadelphia on October 10, then finishes its preseason slate on the road against the Sixers on October 16. That’s two chances for fans to process what still feels impossible: Jaylen Brown in a Sixers uniform.
Brown was traded to Philadelphia in July as part of a deal that brought Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks to Boston. The move ended a decade-long partnership that produced one championship, a Finals MVP for Brown, and one of the most durable duos in franchise history. Jayson Tatum admitted it’s going to be strange seeing his longtime running mate in enemy colors. He’s probably not alone.
The trade itself didn’t happen in a vacuum. Boston had previously floated a Brown-centered proposal to the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Milwaukee didn’t bite. The Celtics then pivoted to a division rival that had just eliminated them from the playoffs the year before — a 3-1 comeback that still stings in New England. Some decisions are practical. Some are personal. This one was both.
Brad Stevens on the Hardest Part
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens didn’t sugarcoat what it meant to move a player he’d coached for seven seasons. “These are not decisions you make in haste or in a rush,” Stevens said on July 6. “The Philly part … That is a hard thing to trade a guy that you, first of all, care so much about, and secondly, you have so much respect and admiration for, to a team that just beat you in the playoffs and that you’re going to literally play six times before the playoffs next year with our two preseason games.”
Stevens also saw the math. George’s contract expires a year sooner than Brown’s. The two unprotected picks — 2028 and 2031 — give Boston flexibility down the road. It was a calculated bet on the future at the expense of a painful present.
The preseason schedule begins on October 8 in Cleveland against the Cavaliers. Boston will host Charlotte before the two-game set with Philadelphia. None of those games will count in the standings. But the first time Brown checks into the game at TD Garden in a Sixers jersey, the crowd reaction will tell you everything you need to know about how messy this chapter already is.
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