After a tumultuous spring filled with heavily criticized comments, Jaylen Brown is no longer a member of the Boston Celtics. The franchise traded the five-time All-Star to the Philadelphia 76ers.
In return, Boston received forward Paul George and draft picks. The trade ended Brown’s decade-long tenure in Boston, highlighted by an NBA championship and Finals MVP award. While the reaction to the trade has been intense, one of the strongest takes regarding the deal occurred on national television this morning.
ESPN Analyst Chides Celtics Trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George and Picks
Brown left Boston with a Finals MVP award among other accolades, traveling down the I-95 corridor, heading to Philadelphia. He will join center Joel Embiid and star Tyrese Maxey among others. Author David Dennis Jr. joined the desk at “First Take” to discuss the trade.
“Clearly the Philadelphia 76ers won this trade. … This is one of the worst trades I can think of.”@DavidDTSS speaks on the Sixers trading for Jaylen Brown 🏀 pic.twitter.com/Wsf87bKvtc
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 2, 2026
“Clearly, the Philadelphia 76ers won this trade. I’ve been told all week, ‘Trust Brad Stevens,” exclaimed Dennis, referring to the narrative that Stevens, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, would figure out a way to jettison Brown for a sizable return.
“This feels like a dude who didn’t know what the hell he was doing, and has not known what he is doing… with Jaylen Brown, since the very moment the season ended,” Dennis added. Speculation flowed from Boston since the Celtics’ season ended, ironically, at the hands of the 76ers.
“This is one of the worst trades I can think of. This is Luka Dončić-esque… Nico Harrison is somewhere popping a bottle,” asserted the author. Harrison, while running basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks, traded Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for oft-injured forward Anthony Davis. Harrison endured wide-ranging criticism. Now, in Dennis’ estimation, Stevens supplanted him in regard to executing what many perceive as a bad trade.
Without Brown, the Celtics will be built around Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and George. Tatum and George both have injury histories, with the latter’s background more concerning. For instance, George has not played 60 games since the 2023-24 season.
On top of that, trading Brown to a division rival means he’ll face the Celtics four times each season. The trade gives the 76ers an elite scorer who can either thrive as a first option or be a perfect secondary option alongside Maxey and Embiid. Either way, the 76ers look in far better condition than the Celtics, at least on paper.
While free agency is less than a week old, there’s still time for Boston to add pieces to its roster in hopes of making a strong playoff run. The Celtics recently added Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley Jr., but there are more questions than answers after this stunning trade.
