Is the trade of Brown equal to the most famous trade in baseball history?
On Wednesday, the Boston Celtics sent shockwaves through the NBA by trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for former All-Star Paul George and four future draft picks.
The Celtics, built to win now, seemingly did the impossible: They traded away a homegrown superstar who is 29 years old, under contract for three years, and just finished sixth in the MVP voting.... for? A 36-year-old who has played 60 games or more just once in the last seven years and a bunch of future pieces.
And if the 76ers are good, as anticipated, those future draft picks won't even be particularly high picks.
As of this writing, we still don't know the full motivation for the Celtics to move Brown. Did they grow tired of him in the building for some reason? Did they botch the trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and then feel they couldn't reconcile enough with Brown to keep him moving forward? Was this a money decision, in which the C's were happy to get rid of one year of Brown's contract? Did they not think that Brown had the kind of impact that his stat line showed in 2026-27?
We still don't know, but what we do know is that virtually nobody associated with the Celtics likes this trade. The fans hate it, and the local media does too.
Nationally, ESPN's Marc Spears compared the trade of Brown to the Boston Red Sox trading Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. That's the most famous trade - and trade blunder - in sports history. That's a high bar to cross.
Now, that's probably a little too harsh, considering Boston fans will remember the 2020 trade of Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers as more devastating, but regardless, people don't like it.
So what happens now?
In fairness to the Celtics, we have to see if anything else comes of this trade. Does Boston turn around ship George out somewhere for something closer to Brown's value? Does it take those picks and ship them out somewhere for a player who can help in the immediate future?
Because what's for certain is that the Celtics are built to win now. At 56-26 last season and with Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and Mitchell Robinson (signed on Wednesday), this is a veteran group with championship experience.
There are real expectations for this roster, with or without Brown, but the path just got harder. And if the Celtics fall short, everyone will be prepared to point the finger right at Brad Stevens.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our CELTICS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Celtics fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
