Jaylen Brown trade grades: Sixers stunner, but what is Boston doing?

The NBA's latest offseason blockbuster saw the Boston Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George and a package of picks.

Let's break it down.

The Sixers pulled a rabbit out of their hats

The 76ers were staring at another season where they'd be stuck between two eras with an expensive roster incapable of winning anything. The safe assumption was that unless the Sixers dared to trade prized youngster V.J. Edgecombe, there just wasn't a way to acquire an in-his-prime star to play with Tyrese Maxey. They'd have to wait out Paul George's albatross of a contract while hoping Joel Embiid could catch lightning in a bottle with his health, or so the thinking went.

Then the Celtics handed them a shocking lifeline.

Brown's on-court value may not measure up to his gaudy numbers - he's a volume scorer, but an inconsistent shooter, an overrated defender, and he's prone to bouts of tunnel vision. He's also unquestionably and significantly better than George.

Brown's coming off a season in which he averaged roughly 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists while serving as the No. 1 option for an overachieving 56-win Celtics squad, earning himself All-NBA second-team honors. George is closer to a 3-and-D role player at this stage of his career. Brown has never played less than 76% of his team's games in a season. George has cracked the 60-game mark just once in the last seven years. Brown is also six years younger.

Even Brown's problematic supermax contract is tolerable for a Sixers team ditching George's deal. Brown is owed more than $183 million over the next three years - roughly 35% of the salary cap - but that doesn't seem so bad when just a few hours ago, Philly thought it still owed the inferior and older George $110.7 million over the next two years (roughly 33% of the cap).

The Sixers got better, younger, and more cost-effective without having to sacrifice Edgecombe. That's worth a couple first-rounders, even when one of those picks is unprotected and will convey long after the team's current core is gone.

Between Maxey's shooting, Brown's bully-ball, and Edgecombe's dynamism, the Sixers can at least sniff the fringes of contention for the next few years. Barring a miraculous return to health for Embiid, there was no world in which they could've said that with George in Brown's place. Philly also landed one of the better 3-and-D players in this year's (underwhelming) free-agent class, with Dean Wade looking like a solid fifth starter alongside Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, and Embiid.

It's not perfect, but it's quite the opening statement by the Sixers' new front office.

Grade: A-

How can Boston justify this?

The Celtics deciding to trade Brown, in general, was completely defensible. There was clearly friction between the two sides after Boston tried to trade Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Celts likely realized that Brown's polarizing value would never be higher than after an All-NBA career-year.

But this doesn't exactly amount to "selling high." If George plus control of a couple first-rounders was the best Boston could do, then the team was better off either waiting out the market or finding a way to make it work with Brown still in the fold.

Even if you're skeptical of Brown's overall impact, the Celtics had proof of concept that pairing the former Finals MVP with Jayson Tatum results in perennial contention. If the relationship was truly damaged beyond repair, was a July 1 trade to a bitter rival - one that just eliminated Boston from the playoffs - really necessary? The Clippers acquired control of three first-round picks in trading 35-year-old Kawhi Leonard (albeit a player who's still better than Brown). The Jazz turned injury-prone, zero-time All-Star Walker Kessler into control of four additional first-rounders. Surely, a better haul than two picks and Paul George would've shaken loose at some point this summer.

We'll never know for certain. Brad Stevens' front office was bulletproof for a long time, but it officially has some explaining to do.

Grade: D

Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead NBA reporter.