Emergency Pod! The Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown to the 76ers!

The NBA offseason detonated on a single July afternoon. The Boston Celtics, after a decade of the Jays era, traded Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks. The deal came after the Celtics failed to land Giannis Antetokounmpo in a separate sweepstakes and after shopping Brown around the league found little appetite for his supermax salary. The trade breaks up the most accomplished duo in the Eastern Conference over the last decade and sends Brown to the team that just eliminated Boston from the playoffs. The same day, the Lakers, after losing LeBron James, made a massive gamble on Walker Kessler, signing him to a four-year, $130 million deal and sending Utah two unprotected first-round picks and swaps, leaving Los Angeles with almost no draft capital through 2033.

The Celtics' Three Paths and Why They Chose This One

Zach Lowe and Mo Dakhil walked through the three roads Boston had in front of it over the previous ten days. Path one: do nothing, keep Brown and Tatum together, and run it back. Path two: trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo using Brown, three first-round picks, and Hugo Gonzalez. Path three: shop Brown, find the market tepid, and take a deal centered on financial relief and draft equity. They chose path three.