Celtics could flip Paul George to add $112 million wing in another blockbuster

The Boston Celtics are going through some massive changes this offseason. 

The Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era that netted the franchise a title is now over. Pretty much everybody expected Brown to be moved, but nobody expected the team and package. Brown ended up going to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and picks. 

George is not a player many people expected to be moved. Coming off a down year and a suspension, George was seen as one of the worst contracts in the league. There's no denying he's still a solid scorer when on the court, but he's a massive downgrade from Brown. 

However, it's possible the Celtics aren't done making moves. In fact, it's possible George isn't even on the team for long. 

Celtics to trade George for Trey Murphy? 

Another player who has been stuck in trade rumors for a while is Trey Murphy III. The wing has been wasting away in New Orleans with the Pelicans, and he has the skillset that would greatly help out a contender. 

Boston has been rumored to be interested in Murphy, and they'd likely have to include George in a possible trade. 

Jack Simone of Boston Sports Journal recently gave his opinion on a George-Murphy swap. 

"It feels like the Celtics have been linked to Trey Murphy III for months now. First, he was a TPE trade option," said Simone. "Then, he was a Brown trade option. Now, he's still a potential option via a George trade.

"In theory, Boston could send George and a ton of draft capital to the Pelicans for Murphy and one of Dejounte Murray or Jordan Poole. Financially, that deal works. But the Celtics would have to include enough draft compensation to account for the New Orleans Pelicans taking on George's contract and the value of Murphy and any other players they receive."

As Simone mentioned, some deal with George going to the Pelicans for Murphy and Dejounte Murray or Jordan Poole would work financially. However, there's no reason the Pelicans would do that unless they were getting a ton of draft capital or young assets. 

Would the Celtics throw in Hugo Gonzalez? I seriously doubt it, since they were rumored to not want to include him in a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. This means they'd likely have to include all the picks they just received in the Brown trade. Would it be worth it at that point? 

Murphy is a good player, but I'm not sure he's good enough to justify giving up the Brown return and adding more bad money in the form of Murray or Poole. It seems like a better option to just role with George for the 2026-27 season and hope for the best. 

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