Everything Celtics Originally Wanted from 76ers in Jaylen Brown Trade Revealed in New NBA Rumors

The Boston Celtics set a steep initial asking price for Jaylen Brown in negotiations with the Philadelphia 76ers.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on SportsCenter that Philly made the first move, with newly hired president of basketball operations Mike Gansey reaching out to Boston.

"The Celtics had such a high bar on a deal," Charania said. "They were thinking if you're gonna trade us Paul George we need four firsts, five firsts. We need a player like a VJ Edgecombe. That was the bar that was set early. There were other teams around the league that might of stopped conversations or moved on to do other deals, but the Sixers stayed with it."

Suffice to say, that's not what Boston is getting back from the Sixers. The Celtics will reportedly acquire George along with two first-round picks and two second-rounders.

Complete shock is the general reaction to the trade around the NBA universe.

The surprise isn't so much that Brown is on his way out. It was hard to see how he and the Celtics could come back from yet another offseason in which it was apparent they were willing to move him.

Boston's return is what is astonishing so many people.

George is a worse player than Brown right now, and he's owed more than $114 million over the next two years assuming he picks up his player option.

As Charania's report alludes to, one presumed the Sixers would have to include some valuable assets in order to get off George's contract. The 36-year-old logged 78 total appearances since signing with Philly in 2024, and his game is starting to fall off.

In the case of the Celtics, they're not only taking George off the 76ers' hands, but they're also parting with a five-time All-Star and former Finals MVP. Asking for Edgecombe was a reasonable request even though he was probably untouchable from the jump.

Settling for two first-rounders is simply baffling and raises some obvious questions.

Perhaps there was drama behind the scenes that necessitated Brown's exit come hell or high water. Maybe the viral opinion from one analytics official represented the overall assessment of Brown more than people realized.

Brown's contract status factored into all of this as well. Paying George for two more years could prove to be better for Boston's long-term flexibility than assuming the outstanding balance of Brown's $285.4 million deal on top of what he might make after that.

Still, it's difficult to see why the Celtics did the trade right now if Philly's counter was the best offer on the table.