Jaylen Brown’s trade to the Philadelphia 76ers sent shockwaves across the NBA due to questions raised over the returns that the Boston Celtics got for him: Paul George and four draft assets (two first-round picks and two second-round picks).
Amid these questions, the NBA reporter Jovan Buha provided a potential explanation for why the Celtics agreed to this trade. He feels that this could mean more business coming from the Celtics’ front office, despite their assertions that they are confident in the current roster.
“It almost came off as a form of salary dump, or they just wanted to get off of the contract. Maybe they end up rerouting Paul George elsewhere. There have been talks about maybe them doing something with New Orleans,” said Buha during his appearance on NBA TV’s The Association with Mike Yam and Darren Collison.
“They have multiple firsts to put on the table to maybe go after Trey Murphy. Barring that, this is a pretty surprising return for a guy of Jaylen Brown’s caliber; this is a guy who is a top five MVP candidate for a lot of people.”
Trey Murphy III has been on the Celtics’ radar and has been previously linked to them this season, but the Pelicans were reportedly demanding at least three first-round picks in any trade negotiations. Therefore, this asset overhaul by trading Brown ensures that the front office now has plenty of potential picks to eventually offer to the Pelicans if they enter negotiations.
Jaylen Brown hailed several praises on Paul George during his recent livestream, saying that the 36-year-old veteran still has a lot left in his tank and the Celtics should use him properly instead of sleeping on him.
But if the Celtics were seriously interested in Murphy, and the Pelicans did not want Jaylen Brown in a package, I highly doubt they will enter the race for Murphy now while offering an arguably worn-out Paul George.
Trey Murphy III ended the 2025-26 season averaging 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists while going 47.0% from the field and 37.9% from behind the three-point line.
Meanwhile, George finished the year while averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while going 43.9% from the field and 39.2% from beyond the arc. And Jaylen Brown was in the MVP race, as he led the Celtics to the second seed in the East while averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists with 47.7% shooting efficiency.
Reports also suggested that teams around the league perceived that Jaylen Brown has a ‘disease’ where he thinks he’s better than everyone in the room. So the Pelicans may not have wanted a player like that on their team, with an albatross contract attached to him as well. Hence, they acquired more valuable picks than their own and could now make a splash for Murphy.
To convince the Pelicans to even consider taking on George’s contract, the Celtics will need to sweeten the package with several draft assets, while likely also receiving a salary dump player or a player on an expiring contract like Jordan Poole.
It is also possible that the Celtics don’t shop George at all. But if they do enter the race to trade for Murphy, they could be looking at competition from the Warriors, the Pistons, and the Pacers.
Therefore, it remains to be seen what the Celtics decide to do with the draft assets they received in the blockbuster Jaylen Brown trade and whether the Pelicans’ front office will even entertain any offers for him.
