To be fair, this whole conundrum started when the Philadelphia 76ers passed on Jaylen Brown to draft Ben Simmons in 2016, but then we'd be starting not only on a Captain Hindsight, but we're hovering above the line of ridiculous. If we're trying to be realistic, the dominos started falling for the Brown for Paul George swap all the way back in 2024.
While more reasons have come out explaining why the Celtics made the deal, these dominoes started at the trade deadline that year. Many forget it because it really was a footnote both then and even more so no, but the Sixers traded Jaden Springer to Boston in what was more or less a salary dump.
Springer had potential, but never quite panned out the way Boston had hoped. Regardless, it upset the Sixers fanbase that they traded him, let alone to a division rival. But Philadelphia did that for a reason: to open up their cap room to sign quality players like Paul George.
Swapping Springer to open up cap room factored into how Philadelphia was able to get George the following summer. Even if George was in his 30s, he was still one of the best players bound to hit the market. He didn't have the best tenure as a Sixer, but the plan still worked, and it wouldn't have happened without trading Springer to Boston in the first place.
Which of course, leads to now
That set the course for Boston to trade Brown for George. The Celtics were clearly trying to find a new home for Brown regardless, but they got the best deal from Philadelphia until proven otherwise. At least, that's what they thought.
It's funny how one of the most inconsequential trades Brad Stevens made caused a chain reaction as grand as this one turned out to be. Springer did pretty much nothing for Boston in the grand scheme of things, George wasn't exactly beloved in Philadelphia, and eyt it all culminated in one of the most shocking trades of the offseason.
Not many are as excited by the prospect of George like they would have been if Boston had acquired him a decade prior, but the Celtics didn't acquire him only for long-term cap flexibility. Brown is the better player as of now, but on paper, George is the better fit for what Boston wants on the floor as a team.
The craziest part is that we don't know what other dominoes will fall from trading for George when it's all said and done.
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