The Philadelphia 76ers wanted to go for the gold this summer. In order to be taken seriously, they decided that they had to go all in and bring in an integral Boston Celtics star to vault them to the next level: Al Horford.
Oh wait, sorry. That was 2019. It was different then. Fast forward to 2026, the Philadelphia 76ers wanted to go for the gold this summer. In order to be taken seriously, they decided that they had to go all in and bring in an integral Boston Celtics star to vault them to the next level: Jaylen Brown.
With that bit out of the way, yes, the situations are different, but let the record show that the last time the Sixers did something like this, it was a disaster for them.
When they brought in Horford in 2019, the logic was sound. He was their kryptonite and taking him surely made Boston worse on paper. Horford proved himself to be one of the better two-way players in the playoffs who would surely raise the 76ers' ceiling next to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Except he wasn't. Not only did Boston steady the ship without Horford - that's not to say they would have been worse if he had stayed - but Horford was a terrible fit with the Sixers. He never quite got into a groove in Philadelphia because he simply wasn't a fit for their system. It got so bad that by the end, he was their backup center.
That was the most surprising part about that disaster. Horford proved just how brilliant a player he was in Boston while also showing he fit with just about any lineup. Looking back, it seemed pretty clear he needed the Celtics more than the other way around, something that's also shown itself since his second departure.
Will Brown follow a similar path in Philly?
No one's saying yes, but no one should dismiss the possibility.
Brown is a better player now than Horford was when he joined the Sixers seven years prior, but despite his talent, he doesn't have the highest IQ, nor is he the most adaptable player. Do Sixers fans really believe he will put up the same numbers he did in his last season with the Celtics when playing next to Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and VJ Edgecomb?
Brown does better when his teams ask him to do more, not less. Last season was proof of that with Jayson Tatum out, but when the Celtics asked Brown to be lower on the pecking order, he has not taken that well.
One of the Celtics' most infamous teams, the 2018-19 team (the Kyrie disaster), struggled because there was too much talent for everything to fit seamlessly into a clear hierarchy. They relegated Brown to 3&D because they had too many players who could do what he could.
It's not the exact same situation with Philly, just like Horford joining them isn't the exact same thing as Brown doing it, but there are enough similarities that latter could be a Trojan Horse like the former turned out to be when it was all said and done.
The modern NBA has emphasized that contending teams need fit just as much as they need talent. Brown is an exceptional basketball player, but that doesn't mean he'll automatically be an exceptional fit for what Philly will want him to do.
Maybe the Celtics didn't send Brown to their division rvials intending to ruin them internally the way a Trojan Horse does, but it would be gravy if that's how it turned out.
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