Jaylen Brown-Paul George trade grades: Celtics sell low on star; Sixers add talent, get younger

We knew a Jaylen Brown trade was coming. Nobody had any clue though that it would be with the Sixers. 

Philadelphia shocked everyone by pulling off that move on Wednesday evening, sending Paul George and a collection of draft assets in exchange for the Celtics star. It's a fascinating swap between two teams that project to be among the better teams in the East next season. 

Did the Celtics sell low on Brown? Did the Sixers pay too much to acquire him? Let's get into grades for this trade. 

MORE TRADE GRADES: Giannis to Heat | LaMelo Ball to Wolves | Julius Randle to Nets | Ja Morant to Blazers | Kawhi Leonard to Raptors

Jaylen Brown - Paul George trade details

Celtics receive:

• Paul George
• 2028 first-round pick that could convert to a swap that is more favorable to Boston
• 2031 unprotected first-round pick
• 2028 and 2030 second-round picks

Sixers receive:

• Jaylen Brown

Celtics trade grade

I am puzzled as to why the Celtics would do this trade. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, they were at one point asking for four first-round picks in exchange for Brown. A package centered around George and two first-rounders is extremely far from that initial demand. 

George is on one of the worst contracts in the league. He will make $111 million over the course of the next two seasons and is worth about $33 million according to my salary model. It should have cost at least one first-round pick just to offload his salary. 

That's not to say George is a terrible player. He is still a useful starter and will help Boston. He's a capable defender and can still knock down 3-pointers and create some offense. He fits in extremely well with the style of offense that Boston played last year. 

That style of course has led to several playoff collapses and was one that the Celtics wanted to change by trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo. It looks like instead, they will double down on it, forgoing rim pressure in favor of continuing to shoot a ton of 3's. 

This seems like a massive sell low on Brown. There is a chasm between George and Antetokounmpo, and it has to sting for Boston fans to go from one to another. So why would Boston trade its star for pennies on the dollar?

One factor is that Brown could potentially have been a distraction after hearing his name in trade rumors. The other though is that Brown himself is a bad contract, and his runs for a longer period of time. He is an extremely talented player who rightfully earned a place on an All-NBA team and MVP votes last season. But he will be the seventh-highest paid player in the league next season. That's a lot to make for a second banana. 

The Celtics should have had championship aspirations going into this season. They did upgrade their center depth by signing Mitchell Robinson earlier in the day, and they addressed their lack of ballhandling by adding veteran point guard Mike Conley. Those were good moves.

The swap of Brown for George makes them significantly worse though. The picks that they received don't offset the talent gap between the two players, nor does it resolve the fact that George hasn't been able to stay on the floor for the past several seasons.

Is there another move to be made for Boston? It's unclear if they will flip George for another piece, or if they will use those picks in order to add more talent. If that is the case, then this becomes a lot more understandable. If, instead, they chose to get worse during their championship window, then the trade makes little sense. 

Boston will still be a regular season win machine. They have a system that works, and Jayson Tatum is a better engine than Brown. They've quietly been a better team when Brown has been off the floor anyway. Given their success with just one of their stars last year, they should be able to replicate that again. But they should have added a much better player than George in this swap. 

Grade: C-

Sixers trade grade

The price that the Sixers paid in this deal is much lower than what I would have anticipated. Getting off the George deal is a coup in and of itself. 

The Sixers are a very interesting team now. They looked dangerous when they defeated the Celtics in the first round of last year's playoffs before falling apart due to Embiid's health in the second round.

Brown is more than capable of taking the load off Tyrese Maxey and Embiid, hopefully helping to keep the latter healthier. And VJ Edgecombe had a promising rookie season where he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. 

Brown is obviously a great player, but the fit here does raise some questions. He is a high-usage weapon who clearly thinks of himself as a premier talent in the league and now has an even bigger chip on his shoulder. His biggest value-add is as a shot creator, but Maxey and Embiid also need the ball a lot. Will Brown's offensive creation be duplicative with what the Sixers already have? And can they get him to buy in more on the defensive end of the floor, where at times he can look very solid and at others totally lost? 

Philadelphia has some other issues as well. They swapped out their wing depth in free agency, bringing in Dean Wade while losing Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes. Backup center remains an issue, where unproven and newly-acquired big man Ariel Hukporti will have to hold up. 

They don't have the outlines of a championship team yet, but they certainly added talent in this trade. And they got seven years younger in the process. It's hard not to like that. 

Grade: B