The Jaylen Brown Trade Wasn't About Basketball — It Was About Money

My brother and I have this game we play where we make up the most absurd NBA trades possible and inform each other of them as if they're real.

"LeBron to the Jazz for Jaxson Hayes."

"Anthony Edwards to the Wizards for Bilal Coulibaly."

"Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis."

Except that last one was real. It didn't sound real at the time — I thought it was once again the silly little game that we played. But in that one instance, what was actually happening in the NBA was just as unbelievable as the wildest hypothetical we could dream up. We figured the Luka trade would be a one-off, until recently, we were stunned once more.

"Jaylen Brown to the Sixers for Paul George."

I got the joy of announcing that one, as my brother beat me to it with the Luka trade. And to make things even more interesting, my brother is a Boston Celtics fan while my loyalties lie with the Philadelphia 76ers — despite growing up in Boston. After years of being ridiculed for wearing a Joel Embiid shirt to high school and always being inevitably disappointed when the playoffs arrived, the tides were finally shifting. Not only did I secure some bragging rights this summer when the Sixers came back from 3-1 down to beat the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, but now one of their star players was heading to Philly and Celtics fans were absolutely beside themselves.

My initial reaction was shock. I follow the Sixers closely and like to think I usually have some idea of who they'll pursue in the offseason. This one caught everybody off guard. It didn't feel real. Why would the Celtics who just finished second in the East without superstar Jayson Tatum for the majority of the season trade a 29-year-old coming off an MVP-caliber season to a division rival in exchange for a 36-year-old who played just 37 games last season? There are a few theories, and one of them may leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Some have suggested this was simply a basketball move. I don't buy it. There's no reason Jaylen Brown can't spend the better part of the next decade at the very top of this league, and Paul George has played just 78 games over the past two seasons combined. There is simply no way that Brad Stevens who is one of the best team architects in the NBA would allow this to happen for basketball reasons alone. Another theory is that because Jayson Tatum is the undisputed face of the franchise and his relationship with Brown had grown increasingly rocky, the Celtics moved Brown to keep Tatum happy. I find this equally unlikely. You're talking about two of the best players in the game and it's hard to believe that the most decorated organization in basketball would let locker room friction get in the way of that kind of talent. We'll never know for certain, but neither theory holds up under scrutiny. Which leads me to the one that does.

The Boston Celtics underwent an ownership change not long after winning the NBA Championship in 2024. Private equity mogul Bill Chisholm purchased the team for a record $6.1 billion in 2025. Here's where things get interesting. When a team is owned by private equity, it isn't owned by a single individual or a management group in the traditional sense. Instead, it's backed by a series of stakeholders. In theory, that sounds promising... more stakeholders means more financial backing and greater economic capability. But here's where it gets complicated: running a sports franchise almost always means operating at a loss. That's simply how the industry works. For an individual owner or a management group, absorbing those losses is part of a long-term strategy to build value and deliver results. But stakeholders don't operate on that timeline. They want returns. And when they don't see them, they push back.

Paul George and Jaylen Brown are on similar contracts, but George has one fewer year remaining on his. By trading Brown for George, the Celtics save $60 million. They don't care that Brown just put up MVP-worthy numbers and is seven years younger than George. They don't care that they've transformed one of their direct rivals — the same team that erased a 3-1 lead against them just months ago — into legitimate championship contenders overnight. All that matters to the stakeholders is that $60 million figure. And as long as that number is on the ledger, they're satisfied.

The problems with this are significant. Sports, at their core, are about the fans. Owners neglecting fan interests is nothing new, but this crosses a different line entirely. This isn't neglect — it's indifference. There's no attempt to even appear fan-friendly, because if there were, Jaylen Brown wouldn't be a 76er right now. And while it's troubling for any franchise, the stakes are higher when it involves the Boston Celtics. If this can happen to them, no fanbase is truly safe.

Beyond the ethical problems, this is simply bad business. Yes, $60 million has been saved today. But what happens when the Celtics can no longer compete at the top of the East and begin losing the interest of the very stakeholders they're trying to please? I'm no economist, and predicting next season is impossible. But I do know that the new ownership group is playing a dangerous game. One with real consequences for the players, the fans, and the long-term health of the franchise. Sports ownership has trended toward less transparency and more financial opportunism for years. The last thing the league needs is private equity accelerating that trend.

The Jaylen Brown trade wasn't about basketball. It was about a balance sheet. And Boston fans deserve to know that.