PHILADELPHIA — Reeling from an early exit in the NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown was still a Boston Celtics star when he dissed Joel Embiid and called him a flopper on a livestream.
“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”
Did someone say breaking news?
Brown might have to make amends with Embiid now that they are teammates on the 76ers in the wake of an out-of-nowhere trade that rocked the NBA and again positions Philadelphia as an instant contender for the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983.
You know, because trying to win it all with a hired gun worked so well for the Sixers with Paul George. And James Harden. And Jimmy Butler.
All flops of the postseason kind in Philly.
The Sixers have another star to pair with Embiid — and the true franchise cornerstones in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and second-year standout VJ Edgecombe — after new team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey pulled off a whale of a move in his first month on the job.
Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Celtics to the Sixers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.
Boston is getting George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press (AP) on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.
“I’m still processing how this all went down,” Brown wrote in a statement released Thursday. “I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.
Without a game played, the Sixers are the early winners in this deal.
Gansey somehow shed the two years and $110 million left on the oft-injured and aging George’s deal for a bona fide superstar who was sixth in the NBA MVP voting this past season. The 36-year-old George — who was suspended 25 games for flunking a drug test — played in only 78 total games for the Sixers and has played more than 56 in a season only one time since 2019.
His contract seemed immovable.
Suddenly — as they say in Boston — anything is possible in Philadelphia.
Gansey continued his summer shopping spree on Thursday when the Sixers agreed to terms on a two-year, $12.3 million deal with guard Anfernee Simons, adding him to a list this week that includes former Knicks center Ariel Hukporti and Cavaliers forward Dean Wade, a person with knowledge of the agreements told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Celtics had to move on from Brown after they dangled him as trade bait to Milwaukee in a failed bid to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee.
Following the first round of the NBA draft, Boston president of basketball operations Brad Stevens declined to say how close the team got to executing a trade for Brown. But he said he still viewed Brown as part of the Celtics’ future.
He’s now a big part of the plan in Philadelphia, a franchise that seemed stuck in the mud after it was swept by the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the second round and was third among sportsbooks late Wednesday night to win the Eastern Conference.
Gansey said last month that he wasn’t concerned the Sixers were traveling on two timelines — a win-now mode while Embiid and George were nearing the end of their deals versus dealing with the long term of trying to find pieces that can contribute in the future while Maxey is the undisputed leader of the team and Edgecombe is entering his prime.
Now it’s up to Brown and Embiid and Maxey to form an All-Star trio that can do the improbable just as the Knicks finally did this season in winning their first title in 53 years.
Speaking of improbable, anyone in Philly have a number for LeBron James?
