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On July 3, Beijing time, the Celtics' deal to offload Jaylen Brown faced significant backlash, with discontent extending beyond fans and analysts. According to Windhorst, numerous league insiders think the 76ers essentially got Jaylen Brown at a steal.

The 76ers gave up Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks for Brown. Even looking solely at the draft picks, their actual worth is highly questionable: the 2028 first-round pick comes with multiple layers of protection, meaning other teams can only obtain a valuable pick from it if a series of extremely unfavorable scenarios unfold in the future.

In simple terms, the Celtics parted with Brown, who ranked sixth in last season's MVP voting, simply to gain more short-term salary cap flexibility—George's contract is one year shorter than Brown's. In return, they received an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and are hoping the 2028 pick eventually becomes valuable.

Less than two weeks ago, the Celtics planned to use Brown as their main trading chip to make a package offer for Antetokounmpo from the Bucks. After the Antetokounmpo deal fell through, Boston pivoted and traded Brown for the 36-year-old Paul George. Over the past seven seasons, George has played fewer than 60 games in six of them.

If the Celtics intended to start a rebuild, taking on George's contract and hoping to secure two quality first-round picks in the future would be understandable. However, this Celtics team clearly still aims to compete for the Eastern Conference title: Tatum is expected to return at full strength next season, and the team also has Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and newly signed Mitchell Robinson.

One argument is that George, being a better three-point shooter than Brown, might fit better into Mazulla's coaching system and could help the Celtics bounce back from last season's first-round exit to achieve a breakthrough in the 2026-27 season.

Even considering that possibility, it’s hard to believe the Celtics received equal value for Brown. Brown just completed his career-best season, with five All-Star selections and two All-NBA Second Team nods—this trade clearly was a loss.