Jason Burgos
A new rumor reveals what the Boston Celtics were originally looking for from the Philadelphia 76ers in a Jaylen Brown trade. And it was far better and made much more sense than what they ended up getting.
On Wednesday night, the most shocking trade of the offseason occurred — which is saying something because there have been some stunners over the last couple of weeks. After boatloads of speculation since the NBA Finals ended, the Celtics agreed to trade 2025-26 MVP contender Jaylen Brown to the 76ers. The move flabbergasted NBA observers for a couple of reasons.
First, trading a top star is bad enough, but Boston sent him to a major rival in the conference, and will now have to face him a lot over the next couple of seasons. However, the worst part of the deal was the return. After rumors that the Celtics’ asking price started with at least four first-round picks, they are instead getting a broken-down version of Paul George, first-round picks in 2028 and 2031, and second-round selections in 2028 and 2030.
Boston Celtics originally wanted VJ Edgecombe back in Jaylen Brown trade
It is a return that has bewildered many in and around the NBA. However, that wasn’t what the Celtics were looking for originally, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“The Celtics had such a high bar on a deal. 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 have stopped conversations or moved on to do other deals, but the Sixers stayed with it.”
– Shams Charania
For a player like Brown, who is only 29 years old and is a two-way star in the prime of his career, getting rising young star VJ Edgecombe back would have made sense. Especially if they were taking George — a player who has played in over 60 games once in the last seven seasons — and the over $113 million he is owed over the next two seasons. Maybe you don’t get four draft picks, but the Celtics are doing the 76ers a favor by taking the future Hall of Famer back.
Instead, they seemingly got impatient and accepted an offer that may go down as one of the worst in this century unless the Celtics turn those two first-round picks into major impact players.
