Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to 76ers for Paul George in blockbuster deal

The Boston Celtics agreed to trade Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks in 2028 and 2031, and two second-round selections in 2028 and 2030. The deal comes days after Philadelphia eliminated Boston in a seven-game first-round series in the 2026 Eastern Conference playoffs, instantly changing the balance between two teams that had just met on the postseason stage.

Brown leaves Boston at 29 as one of the franchise’s defining players of the past decade. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP and the 2023-24 Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Drafted third overall by Boston in 2016, Brown ranks 10th on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list with 13,474 points and appeared in 70 regular-season games last season, all starts, while averaging 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and a career-high 3.6 assists.

The move also closes the book on a stretch of public uncertainty around Brown’s future. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Brown remained “valued” by the organization and called him a “big part” of the team, even as he declined to forecast what would happen next. Boston had also been active in wider trade talks involving Brown in the days before the agreement, signaling that the club was willing to test the market around a cornerstone player.

For Boston, the return brings in George, a nine-time All-Star, along with four future draft picks that deepen the team’s flexibility. For Philadelphia, the payoff is different: the 76ers get a younger franchise centerpiece who already helped Boston win a title and has spent his entire career as one of the league’s most accomplished two-way wings. In a conference where Boston and Philadelphia already spent seven games sorting out their hierarchy, the trade turns a rivalry into a roster reset.