Can Jaylen Brown lift the Sixers and prove his doubters wrong? Breaking down Philadelphia’s big swing

One day shy of two months after the Philadelphia 76ers ended Jaylen Brown’s season, they did what so many pundits had tried and failed to do over the last half-decade. They split up the Jays.

They found one hell of a way of doing it, too: by trading for Brown, in a day that scarcely anybody saw coming amid breathless prognostication over what would constitute an appropriate return for a five-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

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In the end, it wasn’t Giannis Antetokounmpo, or “four and even five first-round picks.” It was Paul George — 36 years young, two years removed from his last All-Star nod, having played fewer than 60 games in six of the last seven seasons, with a 25-game suspension for violating the terms of the NBA’s anti-drug program this past campaign, and owed $110.7 million over the next two seasons — an unprotected 2031 Sixers first-round pick, a 2028 first whose potential outcome is “kind of complicated,” and second-round picks in 2028 and 2030 that have already been multiply swapped (and could turn out to be pretty good).

Whether that return sounds to you like a lot or a little likely depends on whether you grew up in South Boston or South Philly. (You’re not going to believe this, but Celtics fans and Sixers fans have A LOT OF BIG FEELINGS about this one.) And on what you think of George, who was excellent defensively (when available) in Philly and who showed up in a major way against Boston in the playoffs, but whose contract was largely considered to be such a negative asset that it would require some draft-pick incentivization to get another team to take it on. And on how highly you rate Brown — which, in case you hadn’t heard, is a whole friggin’ thing.

Oh, also, on how optimistic you are that Brown, who turns 30 in October, will produce at an All-NBA level through the balance of the supermax contract extension he signed in 2023, which will pay him $183 million over the next three seasons.

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Speaking of which: Brown is eligible for a two-year, $142 million extension that would push that deal through 2030-31 — which might…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/can-jaylen-brown-lift-the-sixers-and-prove-his-doubters-wrong-breaking-down-philadelphias-big-swing-032423537.html

Author : Dan Devine

Publish date : 2026-07-02 03:24:00

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