The Fire Sale

This will go down as one of the worst trades in sports history:

Jaylen Brown for Paul George: 40 cents on the dollar, and one of the worst trades in Boston sports history

Stupefying.

What is going on with the Boston Celtics?

In a town with three teams who are regularly second-guessed and sometimes openly mocked — hello, 2026 Red Sox — the Celtics have been our standard of excellence, smarts, and stability.

Sure there have been some low moments. The Sidney Wicks-Curtis Rowe days were rough, and fans still cringe at memories of the Rick Pitino and M.L. Carr eras. But by and large, the Celtics have been on the right path, giving us reason to believe they’re readying to hang another banner from the Garden rafters.

Not today.

News broke Wednesday night that the Celtics had shipped 29-year-old superstar Jaylen Brown to their forever-rival Philadelphia 76ers for 36-year-old Paul George and a raft of future draft picks — firsts for 2028 and ’31, and a pair of seconds — that will have no immediate impact.

I'm not even sure it's 40 cents on the dollar - The Brown / George contracts are in the same range so there's no salary relief here, an ostensible reason to trade away Jaylen Brown's max contract. I supose the thinking here is not having to give Jaylen a max contract extension when you also have Tatum in a max contract.