JAYLEN BROWN SET TO FORM ALL-STAR TRIO WITH JOEL EMBIID, TYRESE MAXEY IN PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Reeling from an early exit in the NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown was still a Boston Celtics star when he dissed Joel Embiid and called him a flopper on a livestream.
“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”
Did someone say breaking news?
Brown might have to make awkward amends with Embiid now that they are teammates on the 76ers in the wake of an out-of-nowhere trade that rocked the NBA and again positions Philadelphia as an instant contender for the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983.
You know, because trying to win it all with a hired gun worked so well for the Sixers with Paul George. And James Harden. Or Jimmy Butler.
All flops of the postseason kind in Philly.
The Sixers have another superstar to pair with Embiid — and the true franchise cornerstones in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and second-year standout VJ Edgecombe — after new team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey pulled off a whale of a move in his first month on the job.
Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Boston Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.
Boston is getting George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.
“The nba is doing that THING AGAIN,’” Maxey wrote on social media Wednesday night.
Without a game played, the Sixers are the early winners in this deal.
Gansey somehow shed the two years and $110 million left on the oft injured and aging George’s deal for a bona fide superstar who was sixth in the NBA MVP voting this past season. The 36-year-old George — who was suspended 25 games for flunking a drug test — played in only 78 total games for the Sixers and has played more than 56 games in a season only one time since 2019.
His contract seemed immovable.
Suddenly — as they say in Boston —- anything is possible in Philadelphia.
The Celtics had to move on from Brown after they dangled him as trade bait to Milwaukee in a failed bid to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee.
Following the first round of the NBA draft, Boston president of basketball operations Brad Stevens declined to say how close the team got to executing a trade for Brown. But he said he still views Brown to be part the Celtics’ future. It’s why the team sat down with Brown recently, who is currently overseas.
“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us. I don’t want to predict the future. I look at it as this is our team,” Stevens said.
He’s now a big part of Philadelphia’s plan and a franchise that seemed stuck in the mud after it was swept by the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the second round — after rallying from 3-1 down to topple Boston in the first round — and was now third among sportsbooks late Wednesday night to win the Eastern Conference.
Gansey said at his first press conference last month that he wasn’t concerned the Sixers were traveling on two timelines — a win-now mode while Embiid and George were nearing the end of their deals versus dealing with the long-term of trying to find pieces that can still contribute in the future while Maxey is the undisputed leader of the team and Edgecombe is entering his prime.
“I just don’t look at it as two timelines,” Gansey said. “They’re our four guys. They’re under contract. We’ve got to do the best to get them to their best selves. I think every night, at 7 o’clock, we’ve got to get them to their best to help us.”
They’re going to get Brown at his best — and with a proverbial chip in his shoulder — trying to prove Boston wrong and that he can lead his former rivals to the NBA promised land. With Jayson Tatum playing in just 16 games during the regular season while he rehabbed from a ruptured Achilles tendon, the 29-year-old Brown averaged career highs in points (28.7), rebounds (6.9) and assists (5.1).
Brown still has three seasons and about $182 million left on what was then a record, five-year, $304 million supermax deal he signed in 2023.
Before Antetokounmpo was ultimately dealt to the Heat, Brown posted a video on Twitch in which he described his mood.
“To all the people that’s doubted me, that want me to do this, or want me, you’re turning me into a monster,” Brown said.
He’ll have his opportunity in Philly to unleash the beast with Embiid routinely sidelined big chunks of the season with injuries. Maxey had lamented how difficult it was to try and carry the Sixers without a 1B when Embiid was sidelined and now the Sixers have a sort of guardrail in Brown to steady the team during those absences.
The Sixers are transformed — just as they thought they would be when they traded for Harden, Butler and signed George, only to fail and fail again in the playoffs.
Now it’s up to Brown and Embiid and Maxey to form an All-Star trio that can do the improbable just as the Knicks finally did this season in winning their first title in 53 years.
Speaking of improbable, anyone in Philly have a number for LeBron James?
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JAYLEN BROWN STILL PROCESSING HOW HE BECAME A FORMER BOSTON CELTIC AFTER STUNNING TRADE WITH 76ERS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jaylen Brown said he was still processing how the trade agreement went down that will send the former Boston Celtics star to one of its most storied rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Celtics to the Sixers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.
Boston is getting Paul George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.
“I’m still processing how this all went down,” Brown wrote on social media Thursday. “I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.
The relationships I built here, the battles we fought together, the championship we brought to this city, and the connection I shared with the fans, I’ll carry on with me.”
Jayson Tatum missed most of this past season while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear that happened during the 2025 playoffs, meaning Brown had to carry even more of the load for Boston — and he wound up with career-best averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
It seemed, though, that Brown has felt underappreciated, especially after it became known that Boston had included him in trade talks with Milwaukee when Giannis Antetokounmpo was on the market.
“Saying goodbye isn’t easy when you’ve invested your heart into something,” Brown wrote.
The Sixers have another star to pair with two-time NBA scoring champion Joel Embiid — and the true franchise cornerstones in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and second-year standout VJ Edgecombe — after new team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey pulled off a whale of a move in his first month on the job.
“I’m excited for what’s ahead and grateful for the opportunity to join Philadelphia,” Brown wrote. “Every city has its own identity, its own passion, and its own expectation. I respect that, and I’m looking forward to earning that respect the only way I know how, through the work.
“Philly — throw the ball up let’s get it!”
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REPORTS: ROCKETS F TARI EASON AGREES TO 5-YEAR, $81.5M CONTRACT
Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason has agreed to a five-year, $81.5 million contract to return to the team, according to multiple reports on Thursday night.
Eason, 25, is a restricted free agent. He earned $5.7 million for the 2025-26 season in the final team option year of his rookie deal, per ESPN, which first reported the contract agreement. The fifth year of the new contract is a player option, per The Athletic.
He averaged 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and a career-high 25.8 minutes in 60 games (career-high 34 starts) last season. Eason averaged 13.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.5 steals and 32.5 minutes in six playoff games (four starts).
For his career, Eason averages 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 23.6 minutes in 221 regular-season games (55 starts) since 2022.
Houston selected Eason with the 17th overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.
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REPORT: ANFERNEE SIMONS, 76ERS AGREE TO 2-YEAR CONTRACT
A day after reportedly acquiring former NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brown from the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a two-year, $12.3 million deal with free agent guard Anfernee Simons, ESPN reported on Thursday.
Simons, 27, who played with Brown in Boston last season, will have a player option in the second season, per the report.
In the reported Brown deal, the Sixers will send veteran forward Paul George to the Celtics along with first-round picks in 2028 and 2031 and second-round picks in 2028 and 2030.
Simons joined the Celtics last July in the trade that sent Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers, and averaged 14.2 points per game while shooting 39.5% from 3-point range in 49 games.
Simons was on the move again in February, dealt to the Bulls in exchange for forward Nikola Vucevic, but a left wrist injury limited the guard to just six games with Chicago before ending his season. For the season, Simons averaged 14.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 55 games (five starts).
A first-round pick (No. 24 overall) of the Trail Blazers in the 2018 draft, Simons will give the Sixers’ bench an offensive lift it was lacking last season. He has averaged at least 17 ppg four times and is a career 38.5% 3-point shooter.
Over eight NBA seasons, Simons has averaged 14.9 ppg, 3.2 apg and 2.5 rpg in 444 games (218 starts).
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76ERS’ NBA TITLE ODDS SOAR, CELTICS’ PLUMMET WITH JAYLEN BROWN TRADE
The Boston Celtics’ trade of star Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers is the latest offseason blockbuster to send sportsbooks scrambling to adjust their NBA futures.
The Celtics were in the mix to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks late last month, but when the Greek Freak landed in Miami instead, the Heat’s odds of winning the 2026-27 NBA title shortened from +3000 to +1800. With the Celtics deciding to hold onto Brown at the time, their odds held steady at +650 at BetMGM.
That all changed after news broke Wednesday that Boston reversed course and traded Brown to division rival Philadelphia in exchange for aging veteran Paul George and a package of draft picks. The Celtics’ title odds immediately plummeted to +1400 while their odds of winning the Eastern Conference went from +260 to +450.
Conversely, the 76ers went from +6600 long shots to win the title next season to +2000 after acquiring Brown. BetMGM reported that 35% of all bets and 40% of all money wagered on next year’s champion has backed Philadelphia since the trade.
The 76ers also went from +2000 to +700 to win the Eastern Conference, with 54% of the bets and 68% of the money backing them. The reigning champion New York Knicks are the Eastern Conference favorites at +325, followed by the Celtics at +450 and then the 76ers ahead of the Detroit Pistons at +750.
The Los Angeles Lakers also made a flurry of moves Tuesday, led by the acquisition of center Walker Kessler from Utah. Los Angeles went from +4000 to +3000 to win the NBA title and from +2200 to +1600 to win the Western Conference, where they remain behind Oklahoma City and San Antonio at +150, Minnesota at +1200 and Denver at +1300.
Another significant shift saw the Toronto Raptors’ title odds shorten all the way to +2200 by agreeing to a deal earlier this week that will bring Kawhi Leonard back to the franchise.
2026-27 NBA TITLE ODDS*
Team | Opening Odds | Last Week | Wednesday | Current
Oklahoma City Thunder (+260), (+260), (+260), (+260)
San Antonio Spurs (+270), (+260), (+260), (+260)
New York Knicks (+700), (+750), (+800), (+900)
Boston Celtics (+700), (+650), (+700), (+1400)
Philadelphia 76ers (+6000), (+6000), (+6600), (+2000)
Toronto Raptors (+15000), (+12500), (+2200), (+2200)
Miami Heat (+3500), (+1800), (+2200), (+2500)
Detroit Pistons (+3300), (+2500), (+2500), (+2500)
Denver Nuggets (+2000), (+2500), (+2500), (+2500)
Minnesota Timberwolves (+2500), (+3000), (+2200), (+2500)
Golden State Warriors (+6600), (+6000), (+3000), (+3000)
Cleveland Cavaliers (+3300), (+4000), (+3000), (+3000)
Los Angeles Lakers (+2500), (+2500), (+4000), (+3000)
Indiana Pacers (+3000), (+4000), (+4000), (+4000)
Houston Rockets (+6600), (+6000), (+6000), (+6000)
Atlanta Hawks (+10000), (+8000), (+8000), (+8000)
Portland Trail Blazers (+8000), (+10000), (+8000), (+8000)
Orlando Magic, (+5000), (+8000), (+8000), (+8000)
Charlotte Hornets (+10000), (+8000), (+12500), (+12500)
Dallas Mavericks (+8000), (+15000), (+20000), (+20000)
Utah Jazz (+15000), (+25000), (+15000), (+20000)
Washington Wizards (+15000), (+20000), (+20000), (+20000)
Milwaukee Bucks (+25000), (+30000), (+50000), (+50000)
Chicago Bulls (+75000), (+75000), (+75000), (+75000)
Brooklyn Nets (+100000), (+50000), (+75000), (+75000)
Phoenix Suns (+8000), (+15000), (+12500), (+12500)
Los Angeles Clippers (+6600), (+10000), (+20000), (+50000)
New Orleans Pelicans (+25000), (+50000), (+50000), (+50000)
Memphis Grizzlies (+50000), (+50000), (+75000), (+75000)
Sacramento Kings (+75000), (+75000), (+100000), (+100000)
The next big seismic move in the NBA futures is likely to come with LeBron James’ decision on where he will play next season.
The Warriors have been backed by the most title bets (15.7%) and money (12.5%) following reports that James might be considering linking up with Stephen Curry in Golden State. However, several teams are reportedly in the running for James, with the other two most popular title futures backing the 76ers at 8.8% and 9.4%, respectively, and the Cleveland Cavaliers with 6.8% and 8.9% of the action.
While the book reported the Warriors being backed by the highest percentage of total title bets, the Thunder remain supported by the most total money at 32.0%.
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