Giannis Antetokounmpo is finally a member of the Miami Heat. Kawhi Leonard is back with the Toronto Raptors. LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards are teammates.
This NBA offseason has been full of exciting, league-shaking trades -- but the most surprising of them all arrived with a splash Wednesday night, as the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
According to ESPN insider Shams Charania, Philadelphia sent Boston a 2028 first-round pick that could convert from a first to a more favorable swap for Boston, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder (most favorable of GSW/OKC/MIL) and a 2030 second-rounder (most favorable of WAS/POR/PHX).
Just two years ago, Brown won Finals MVP; just two months ago, he finished sixth in the regular-season MVP vote after the best individual season of his career. And now he'll play for one of Boston's biggest rivals after 10 years with the Celtics.
Let's grade this stunner, starting with an attempt -- perhaps futile -- to justify Boston's logic.
Boston Celtics: D+
Here's a hot take, right off the bat: The Celtics might very well win 50-plus games again next season. After all, they went 56-26 last season despite only 16 games with Jayson Tatum, who was recovering from a torn Achilles.
If Tatum is fully healthy next season, he could mimic Brown's 2025-26 production. And the Celtics have otherwise improved this summer, as they added Mitchell Robinson and have thus far retained the rest of the core that powered their surprisingly strong season.
Yet that's a glib way to start this analysis because swapping Brown for George makes the Celtics worse. It clearly makes them worse. Crucially, it lowers their playoff ceiling, even if the likes of Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh might mash together enough solid minutes to try to replace the departed All-Star throughout the regular season.
It's utterly strange that the Celtics would willingly take such a giant step back. This is the most successful franchise of the decade: In the 2020s, Boston ranks first in regular-season wins and playoff wins, and it's the only team to both win a championship and make another Finals.
Just 10 days ago, the Celtics were trying to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, a win-now superstar who would have raised their playoff ceiling. Just earlier on Wednesday, they signed the injury-prone Robinson to a free agent contract, seemingly because he'd boost their performance more in the postseason than over the course of the first 82 games.