Boston has rebuilt around a departing core before, trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for the picks that became Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. This summer the franchise ran the same play again, sending Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, ending the partnership the earlier trade started.
The Brown trade repeats a mechanism the franchise has used before.
Boston once sent Garnett and Pierce to Brooklyn for four future first-round picks; two of them became Brown and Tatum. This summer the return trip sent Brown to Philadelphia for George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, closing an era that began with the identical kind of deal. The Jays reached one Finals, in 2022, and won one championship, in 2024, an eight-year run bookended by trades built the same way. This one came with a receipt.
Philadelphia is now the rivalry with the freshest edge.
The Sixers eliminated Boston in the first round of last season's playoffs after Boston blew a 3-1 series lead, then became the trade partner that ended the Brown-Tatum era three months later. Miami and the Lakers built their rivalries with Boston over decades of playoff meetings; Philadelphia built its in one calendar year.
George's health record matters more than his ceiling right now.
George played 37 games last season, his age-36 year, and that number is what training camp exists to answer before any question about fit gets asked. Tatum returns from a season cut to 16 games himself, so camp is carrying two recovery stories at once, not one.
The banner count already settled one argument; new ownership inherited the bill for the next one.
Boston's 18 championships, an NBA record, passed the Lakers' 17 when the Jays won the 2024 title, and William Chisholm bought the franchise for $6.1 billion in 2025 with that count attached. Payroll now runs above the tax threshold at $203.9M across 17 contracts, a modern accounting problem for a franchise whose history spent more time on banners than on aprons.
Why did the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown?
Boston sent Brown to Philadelphia this summer for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, closing the partnership with Jayson Tatum that began in 2016.
How many championships have the Celtics won?
Eighteen, the most in NBA history, a total that passed the Lakers' 17 when Boston won the 2024 title.
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