Celtics fans have ridden quite the roller coaster with Jaylen Brown this offseason. It has gone from looking like JB would be a Celtics for life, to thinking he was getting traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, to thinking he’d be dealt for a motherload of draft picks and prospects, to ultimately being moved to the rival 76ers for 36-year-old Paul George, 2 first-round draft picks, and 2 second-round draft picks.
It seems extremely underwhelming for a player who won Finals MVP in 2024 and just finished 6th in MVP voting, but the advanced metrics paint a blurry picture when it comes to Brown. The Celtics clearly didn’t think his value matched up with his contract at all, and based on the trade return after shopping JB for a month, it seems like, for the most part, the rest of the NBA agreed with that assessment.
But how bad is this return actually? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not pretty, but it also may not be as bad as everyone thought or as bad as it first seemed either.
Paul George is still a good player
George’s contract is too high, but it’s just one more year and then a player option, so even if he picks it up, he’ll be a big expiring salary a year from now. And yes, he’s 36, but when he has been on the court, he has been very good. He’s a better shooter and defender than Brown, and it’s not crazy to think he could be a better fit scaling into his role alongside Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, and others.
PG averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists last season while shooting over 39% on 6.9 three-point attempts per game. He only played in 37 games, largely because of a 25-game suspension for PEDs, but he was very good when on the floor, a lot of the advanced metrics liked him better (or as much) as Brown, and he outplayed him on both ends in a head-to-head playoff series.
Say what you want about “washed” Paul George but against Jaylen Brown head to head and in 7 straight games, he looked like prime PG. pic.twitter.com/Ro3BQRyhos
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) July 1, 2026
Nobody is suggesting that George is as good as Brown, but the gap may not be as wide as the perception, and the fit in Boston may actually be better.
The draft picks are actually quite valuable
At first, the draft equity looked pretty meager, but once the details started coming in, the value of this deal made a lot more sense. The 2028 first-round pick coming to Boston is very confusing, but it will most likely be a swap for an unprotected Clippers pick. LA recently traded Ivica Zubac, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard and will be building with Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, and Keaton Wagler going forward. That’s shaping up to be a bottom-5 team in the West, and with the flattened lottery odds, that could be a premium draft asset for Brad Stevens to play with.
The 2031 unprotected pick from Philly is also intriguing. That’s a long way away for a team with Joel Embiid and Brown. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe look great now, but this could go horribly wrong, and a lot can change in five years. That pick will have real value as well.
The two second-round picks are the most favorable of Golden State, Oklahoma City, and Milwaukee in 2028 and the most favorable of Washington, Portland, and Phoenix in 2030. Those should both be good second-rounders, which have become increasingly valuable on the trade market in recent years. Boston picked up some major assets that Brad can take and use to rebuild the roster in his vision.
All in all, this trade will likely age well for Boston
There’s no way to sugarcoat it; this was a disgusting trade for the Celtics. They gave up a franchise icon to a hated rival and got back up a washed-up star with one of the worst contracts in the league and far fewer draft picks than they were hoping for.
But while the sheer volume may seem low, not all draft picks are created equal, and these ones may be real needle-movers. The Celtics could easily have a $50+ million expiring contract next summer with 5 tradable first-round picks, 7 seconds, and freedom from the repeater tax that allows them to spend big and load up around Tatum.
It’s perfectly reasonable for Celtics fans to be furious and devastated right now, but the sky isn’t falling. This front office knows what it's doing, and they’ve taken the long view on this one. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and see how this plays out. Everyone will rush to grade this trade in the moment, and Boston will come away as big losers. But we won’t know the actual result for many years, and at least for now, I’m still willing to bet on Brad Stevens and his team.
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