The Philadelphia 76ers didn’t simply land Jaylen Brown in one of the NBA’s biggest offseason trades.
They did so without sacrificing one of their most promising young stars.
According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, the Boston Celtics initially demanded a blockbuster package that included Paul George, second-year wing VJ Edgecombe and four to five first-round picks before ultimately agreeing to a significantly smaller return.
Instead of meeting those demands, the 76ers stayed patient.
“The Celtics had such a high bar on a deal,” Charania said Wednesday on SportsCenter. “They were thinking, if you’re going to trade us Paul George, we need four firsts, five firsts. We need a player like a VJ Edgecombe. That was the bar that was set early.”
Boston ultimately agreed to send Brown to Philadelphia in exchange for George, two first-round picks and two second-round selections.
Sixers Never Walked Away
Charania credited new 76ers president Mike Gansey for remaining engaged throughout negotiations despite Boston’s enormous asking price.
According to Charania, several teams around the league backed away from discussions after realizing how steep the Celtics’ demands were.
Philadelphia never did.
“There were other teams around the league that might have stopped conversations or moved on to do other deals,” Charania said. “But the Sixers stayed with it, stayed around, stayed at the party. They didn’t have an Irish goodbye. They didn’t leave early. They stuck around and at the end of it, they were the last team standing.”
That persistence proved pivotal.
When Boston eventually lowered its asking price, Philadelphia remained in position to complete the blockbuster while holding onto one of the franchise’s foundational young players.
Keeping Edgecombe May Be 76ers’ Biggest Win
Getty Vj Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrates a three-point basket during the third quarter of a game against the Boston Celtics in Game Seven of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at TD Garden on May 02, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Landing Brown was a franchise-changing move.
Keeping Edgecombe may prove just as important.
While Edgecombe never emerged as a frontrunner for NBA Rookie of the Year, he more than validated his status as a cornerstone piece during his debut season, averaging 15.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.0 3-pointers across 75 regular-season games before carrying that momentum into the playoffs.
Those numbers help explain why Philadelphia refused to include the talented wing in negotiations.
Had the Sixers accepted Boston’s original proposal, they would have parted with a player they believe can help anchor the franchise alongside Tyrese Maxey for years to come.
Instead, they enter the 2026-27 season with Brown, Maxey and Edgecombe forming one of the Eastern Conference’s most intriguing young cores.
“When you can get a 30-year-old player who’s probably got four to six years left in his prime potentially at this level with a 20-year-old Tyrese Maxey with a 20-year-old VJ Edgecombe, that is scary for the rest of the Eastern Conference,” Charania said.
Celtics’ Leverage Shifted
Charania also explained why Boston ultimately settled for far less than its original asking price.
The Celtics had explored moving Brown before, including in trade talks for Kevin Durant in 2022 and Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier this offseason, before Milwaukee instead agreed to send Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat.
According to Charania, Boston aggressively shopped Brown over the last several weeks despite Brown never requesting a trade.
“When you shop a player the way they shopped him around the league, the word gets around,” Charania said. “Teams felt like the Celtics were yearning to make a deal.”
That dynamic gradually weakened Boston’s leverage.
“They set the bar so high in these talks. Teams just did not meet that price,” Charania said. “At the end of the day, it did hurt his trade value.”
For Philadelphia, the timing proved ideal.
The 76ers landed one of the NBA’s premier two-way wings without surrendering Edgecombe or the overwhelming haul Boston originally envisioned, preserving a young nucleus that now pairs proven championship pedigree with long-term upside as the franchise chases its first NBA title since 1983.
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