Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to 76ers for Paul George

Jaylen Brown’s decade in Boston is over, with the Celtics trading the 2024 NBA Finals MVP to the Philadelphia 76ers in a major offseason deal that pairs him with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

The Celtics will receive Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, according to reports from ESPN that were later confirmed by CBS Philadelphia and the Boston Globe. ESPN reported that the package includes a 2031 unprotected first-round pick, conditional 2028 and 2030 second-round selections, and a 2028 first-round pick that could convert into a swap more favorable to Boston.

The move ends one of the NBA’s most successful partnerships. Brown and Jayson Tatum helped lead Boston to the 2024 championship, the franchise’s 18th, with Brown averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5 assists in the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks and earning Finals MVP honors.

Brown, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, spent all 10 of his seasons with the Celtics. He averaged 20.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in Boston, made five All-Star teams and was named second-team All-NBA twice. The Guardian reported that no NBA player appeared in more combined regular-season and playoff wins over the past 10 seasons than Brown. The Celtics won 523 games with him in the lineup, including the playoffs, six more than Denver won with Nikola Jokić over that span.

His final season in Boston was his most productive. With Tatum missing nearly all of the 2025-26 season while recovering from a torn Achilles, Brown averaged a career-best 28.7 points per game and finished sixth in MVP voting. The Guardian also reported he averaged 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Tatum returned late in the regular season, but Boston’s year ended with a first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia after the Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead. After the series, Brown criticized Embiid on a livestream.

“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in … basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”

Now they are teammates.

Brown’s future in Boston had been uncertain since the Celtics included him and draft picks in talks with the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo was later traded to the Miami Heat, but rumors continued that Brown remained available. The deal is part of a busy offseason that also included Antetokounmpo’s move to Miami, a swap involving Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis trading Ja Morant to Portland, The Guardian reported.

Brown had pushed back publicly against the idea that Boston’s season was a disappointment, saying on his Twitch stream that “this was my favorite year.” The comment drew backlash, and Brown later explained that the Celtics exceeded expectations after being counted out because of Tatum’s injury.

After the first round of this year’s NBA Draft, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said he still viewed Brown as part of the team’s future.

“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us. I don’t want to predict the future. I look at it as this is our team,” Stevens said.

Brown also posted over the weekend about his record of winning in Boston.

“Nobody has won more combined regular-season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” he wrote.

Hours before Antetokounmpo was traded to Miami, Brown delivered another message on Twitch.

“To all the people that’s doubted me, that want me to do this, or want me, you’re turning me into a monster,” Brown said.