NBA Legend Calls Out ‘Crazy' Part of Celtics' Jaylen Brown Trade
Earlier this month, the Boston Celtics finally made their big move, sending Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George and future first and second-round draft picks.
The trade immediately drew the attention of former NBA legends, including Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Charles Barkley, who mostly expressed their surprise over what the Celtics got in exchange for Brown. However, Gary Payton, who played for the Celtics among many other teams, pointed out something else he felt was “crazy.”
“The Boston Celtics made their choice. They went with [Jayson] Tatum … I don't think that relationship was really there. … They just had to move on,” Payton said on SiriusXM NBA Radio, suggesting once Brown started speaking out and the media got involved, the relationship was hard to fix.
“The crazy thing to me is that they shipped him in the Eastern Conference. I would’ve never shipped him in there to kill me,” he said. “I think he’s gonna be very, very angry about that, and every time he plays them, he’s gonna get at them.”
Payton also said that if the 76ers add LeBron James to the roster, which has been speculated in the past several weeks, Philadelphia will be even tougher to beat.
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The Philadelphia 76ers already have two All-Star players in their starting lineup, with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Maxey led the team with 28.3 points per game and 6.6 assists per game, while Embiid was the second leading scorer with 26.9 points, and averaged 7.7 rebounds per game.
Then there’s emerging young star, VJ Edgecombe, who averaged 16 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game as a rookie. Adding another All-Star like Brown to that group, while subtracting George, seems to make for quite a foursome for most opponents to contend with.
Brown, a five-time NBA All-Star and the 2024 Finals MVP, averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists with a 47.7% field goal percentage this past season in Boston.
The official NBA schedule has yet to be released, but the Celtics and 76ers will likely have four big matchups, with two apiece on their respective courts, and Brown will look to remind the Celtics about the player they got rid of.
A big question might be how this team handles the shared production and their numbers being affected. Will one of the four stars grow unhappy with their lowered production in the lineup? That could prompt another player to grow unhappy with their role, which might not be so crazy to see based on previous situations in the NBA.
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This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 9:46 PM.