The Boston Celtics have just agreed to a blockbuster trade with their Eastern Conference rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Celtics have traded Jaylen Brown to the 76ers in exchange for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
Brown was always likely to move teams after Boston offered him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But nobody expected him to join the 76ers, especially not in return for an injury-prone, 36-year-old player and some draft picks.
Many NBA fans have reacted to Shams Charania’s report on social media, and they cannot believe the Celtics’ decision.
NBA fans thought Shams Charania had been hacked after the Jaylen Brown report
The Boston Celtics have turned down several trade offers involving All-Stars or future stars for Jaylen Brown.
Also, Brown was recently the centrepiece of the Celtics’ offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who instead joined the Miami Heat.
Nobody expected Boston to trade the 29-point-per-game scorer for Paul George after the best regular season of his career.
George is a quality player, but he has only played 70 games once in the last seven seasons and is not worth $54 million.
NBA fans have been left stunned by the Celtics’ general manager Brad Stevens’ bold move to trade Brown for George.
“The Raptors got more for Kawhi than the Celtics did for Brown in his prime,” one wrote. “Insane times we’re in.”
“Trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George at this stage of their careers would have Celtics fans checking if Shams got hacked,” an X user commented.
Another added: “I legit thought it was a parody account until I clicked the tweet.”
“I’m a Sixers fan, and I still don’t believe it right now. I’ll check back tomorrow,” said a surprised 76ers supporter.
“A top-six player in our league last season really got traded for a bag of chips,” read another X post.
It is not only Celtics and 76ers fans who cannot believe the news; the whole league is amazed by the Brown trade.
One can only assume that Stevens will trade at least one of those draft picks for another difference-maker this offseason.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
