The Boston Celtics had made it known for weeks that they were actively shopping All-Star forward Jaylen Brown. The hope was that they would send him out in return for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was on his way out of the Milwaukee Bucks.
But the trade involving Brown that ultimately went down was somewhat underwhelming. Boston sent him out on Wednesday to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two future first-round draft picks, and two future second-round picks. George, who is 36, isn’t the player he was even a few years ago, when he was consistently making the NBA All-Star team.
Former Celtics Star Explains It Was a Business Decision
The Celtics, who went 56-26 despite not having star forward Jayson Tatum for most of the season, are undoubtedly getting weaker. They already had a number of roster holes, and one has to wonder why they were so eager to get rid of a five-time All-Star in Brown.
Former Celtics star Antoine Walker revealed that the decision to trade Brown was a business decision that had nothing to do with anything on the court.
“I think everybody got to understand, they got a new ownership group,” Walker said. “This is not the same ownership group that signed him and we’re not saying this ownership group don’t love him. But the Boston Celtics do not own their arena, so that’s where the problem lies at.
“So you can’t really pay right now, it doesn’t justify them financially to pay probably two guys $60-plus million. … I think it’s a business decision. I don’t think it’s nothing to do with basketball. I think they don’t want to say that, but I think it’s about business and trying to get the [salary] cap and the roster at the right level that they want it, and I think it’s tough to do that.”
This was before the Jaylen Brown trade happened, but Antoine Walker a few hours ago said the Celtics trading JB would strictly be a business decision for the new ownership group and would have nothing to do with basketball.
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— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) July 1, 2026
Former majority owner Wyc Grousbeck sold the Celtics to a group led by William Chisholm in March 2025. At the time, they were the defending NBA champions, and it was expected that regardless of how they did in the 2025 playoffs, moves to trim their payroll were inevitable.
Last summer, after they fell to the New York Knicks in the second round of the postseason, they jettisoned Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford, three big contributors to their 2024 championship team. Now Brown is gone and will be replaced by George.
George averaged 17.3 points a game this past season, just two years after averaging 22.6 points a game and making the All-Star team for the ninth time. He has been injury-prone for years (he has appeared in 78 games over the last two seasons) and has historically been inconsistent in the playoffs.
His contract is only slightly less expensive than Brown’s. But it runs through the 2027-28 season, and that season is a player option for George. Brown’s contract, on the other hand, runs through 2029 and has no player option year.
That potentially means the Celtics can reset a bit after this coming season, although they will have to ensure another unsatisfying campaign in the meantime while essentially wasting another year of Tatum’s prime.
