The Celtics are trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in a blockbuster deal, a league source confirmed to MassLive. The move brings an end to Brown’s 10-year tenure in Boston which began with the team selecting him at No. 3 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. Boston gets back two first-round picks and two second-round picks from Philadelphia in the swap along with George. Shams Charania of ESPN.com was first to report the deal.
Brown is coming off his best season in Boston, finishing sixth in MVP voting. He also made the All-NBA second team for the first time in his career and averaged career highs of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists while helping lead Boston to a surprising 56-26 record in the Eastern Conference despite playing without Jayson Tatum all season long. However, that stellar campaign came to a disappointing halt in the postseason after Boston blew a 3-1 series lead against the 76ers in the first-round.
Boston offered Brown in a deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo last week and now have quickly pivoted to a deal with a long-time rival for an unexpected return. George has two years left on his contract and is set to make $54.1 million next season.
Story by Brian Robb, masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.