Jaylen Brown is a Philadelphia 76er now and it still doesn’t make sense.
Two weeks ago the Celtics were offering him to Milwaukee for Giannis Antetokounmpo. That fell apart because Boston refused to include Hugo Gonzalez or Baylor Scheierman in the deal. So the Bucks went to Miami instead and Giannis became a Heat player. And then Brad Stevens turned around and traded Brown for Paul George. Paul George who is 36 years old with $110 million left on his deal through 2028. Paul George who the entire league has been calling the worst contract in basketball.
Brown went on his Twitch stream Thursday night and did not hold back.
“Messaged was received” Brown said. “I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of respect that was shown during this process. Brad is probably getting a lot of the criticism. I wasn’t thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations but I definitely think there’s more to it. I just wish the ‘more to it’ could’ve been explained to me.”
Something clearly went sour between Brown and the front office. Multiple rival team sources told us the Celtics became frustrated with Brown’s streaming activity and the way he talked about playing without Jayson Tatum. Brown called the 2025-26 season the “most fun” of his career while Tatum was recovering from an Achilles injury and barely played until March. According to sources Tatum’s camp was not thrilled about that narrative. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reported that Brown’s streams “caused some headaches” in the front office and his constant suggestions that he was Tatum’s equal didn’t sit well.
The Celtics shopped Brown to at least eight teams. Denver showed interest but wouldn’t trade Jamal Murray. Charlotte offered Miles Bridges and Naz Reid but Boston wanted Brandon Miller and three first-round picks so that went nowhere. The Hornets moved on. Brown made it clear he didn’t want to go to New Orleans or Brooklyn either.
Philadelphia was the last team standing. The Celtics initially asked for rookie VJ Edgecombe in the deal. The 76ers said no and almost walked away completely. Then Boston blinked and accepted George plus draft picks. The trade got done in the “11th hour” according to a source close to the situation.
There was a brief discussion about a three-team deal that would have sent Kevin Durant to Detroit and Brown to Houston with Alperen Sengun going to Boston. That never got past the concept phase. But sources say Durant has interest in playing with Cade Cunningham and the Rockets do not view Durant as untouchable. The Pistons will be at the front of the line if he becomes available again.
Meanwhile Jalen Duren’s restricted free agency is stuck. He wants a max contract after an All-Star season. The Pistons are looking at the Sengun deal and the Jarrett Allen deal as the range. No team has cap space to force an offer sheet. The Lakers talked to Duren but mostly to drive up his price.
And everyone is waiting on LeBron James. The Cavs haven’t signed James Harden yet. The Heat only used part of their mid-level exception on Tim Hardaway Jr. The Warriors are holding off on Draymond Green’s new contract and De’Anthony Melton’s deal until they know what LeBron does. Rui Hachimura is sitting there. Jonathan Kuminga is sitting there. Nobody wants to spend cap space that might be needed for the 41-year-old who is still the best player available.
James is reportedly going to narrow things down after the Fourth of July weekend. Until then the entire free agent market is in a holding pattern while the four-time MVP decides whether he wants to leave the Lakers or not.
Three Finals MVPs got traded in two weeks. The Celtics gave Brown away for a contract nobody wanted. The East is completely different than it was a month ago. And the whole league is waiting for LeBron to pick up the phone.
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