Jaylen Brown Calls Sixers Trade 'Crazy Transition'
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Jaylen Brown said he wasn't 'that surprised' by his trade to the Philadelphia 76ers after 10 years with the Boston Celtics, given how often his name surfaced in trade discussions — but he was disappointed with the Celtics' communication and threw his phone across the room upon first learning of the deal.
- The Philadelphia 76ers also landed LeBron James — the NBA's all-time leading scorer — in free agency, giving Brown a new teammate who publicly endorsed him for MVP in February after Brown's Celtics beat James' Lakers while Brown averaged 'just under 30' with Jayson Tatum sidelined.
- Brown has been texting daily with new teammates since the trade, singling out Tyrese Maxey, second-year guard VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, and LeBron James for reaching out and helping him feel welcome through the team group chat.
- Brown revealed the Celtics offered him in trade talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo before ultimately shipping him to the Sixers — the division rival that eliminated Boston in the first round of last season's playoffs — and that someone in the process went as far as saying he 'had a disease.'
- Brown acknowledged the Sixers' roster challenge, saying there are 'a lot of guys with talent and egos' but stressed winning requires sacrifice, trust, and communication — and that he's coming in 'transparent' with his agenda on the table.
- Jayson Tatum and Brown have 'not really' spoken since the trade, though Brown said 'on my end it's nothing but respect,' pointing to their shared championship as a 'brotherhood or a lifelong legacy.'
Why it matters: The Sixers added both LeBron James in free agency and Jaylen Brown via trade in one offseason, while the Celtics shipped a former Finals MVP co-star to the division rival that bounced them in the first round — redrawing the Eastern Conference hierarchy and signaling the end of Boston's title-window contention era.
