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The reaction out of Boston-based and Celtics-focused NBA commentary has centered on what's perceived to be a poor return for Jaylen Brown in the team's trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. Most Celtics fans aren't happy about it, and neither are the people who talk about them for a living.

ESPN analyst and former Celtics player Kendrick Perkins declared it "one of the dumbest trades in NBA history."

In the trade, the Celtics have agreed to ship Brown to the 76ers in exchange for veteran Paul George, two first-round draft picks and two second-round selections, a person with direct knowledge of the deal confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

Ringer podcast host and noted Celtics fan Bill Simmons said Thursday he was just emerging from being under anesthesia after a colonoscopy and thought "I died," when he learned about the Brown trade, and that Boston had only gotten Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks for Brown.

For those paying particularly close attention to the Lakers during the LeBron James era, there was a clear inflection point.

Riding high after a title in 2020 and feeling hard done by due to injuries the following season, the Lakers front office and LeBron had a harmonious relationship. Looking for an offseason shakeup, the franchise offered up two trades to LeBron: one for Buddy Hield and one for Russell Westbrook.

Fans know how things played out from there and it took the team many years to recover from acquiring Westbrook. When a deal plays out that disastrously, multiple figures are to blame.

Rob Pelinka, now President of Basketball Operations, deserves a lion’s share of the blame, particularly for even offering up the decision to a player on the team. But LeBron doesn’t escape unscathed, either, as he did offer his input.

As it turns out, that moment fractured the relationship between LeBron and the front office so severely that it never recovered, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported in his article on Thursday.

There was more of a disconnect between James and the organization, sources said, one that started during the doomed 2021-22 season following the Russell Westbrook trade and never fully recovered.

The shift in how the two sides collaborated after that move was evident. Originally, Pelinka freely shared that he consulted with LeBron and Anthony Davis on roster moves. After the Russ trade, the same synergy didn’t exist.

LeBron, in a calculated move, distanced himself from the front office and any decision-making that happened from that point forward. Similarly, Pelinka said he was the sole decision-maker as well.

That the relationship between the two sides never recovered from that moment isn’t particularly surprising. It’s a cloud that will hang over the post-title tenure for LeBron and Pelinka. It was a huge mistake that backfired in the worst way possible.

Even if the Lakers had modest success after that, it’s a defining moment in both their times with the Lakers and one that, understandably, changed the dynamics between the player and franchise.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Free agency is upon us and the Dallas Mavericks have begun making moves, adding Santi Aldama to the roster on Wednesday night with the possible addition of Marcus Sasser forthcoming. As the roster begins to take shape, we are now hearing reports that the coaching staff is as well.

Marc Stein is now reporting that Willie Green will be joining the ranks as a top assistant to Dusty May.

After putting together a 12-year playing career through 2015, Green got his first coaching stint with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant in 2018. He rode that first job on the sidelines all the way to the NBA Finals where the Warriors came up short, then moved over to the Phoenix Sun as an assistant for two years before becoming the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. He held that position up until this past season when he was dismissed in mid-November after a dismal 2-10 start to the season. As a head coach, Green has a win-loss record of 150-190. The .441 winning percentage may not be the most stellar number, but considering the lengthy injury absences to key players, some of that is understandable. Green took the Pelicans to the Playoffs on two occasions, going 2-8 overall including a sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He had two winning seasons over the five total seasons he was at the helm.

Although he didn’t have the most successful run in New Orleans, Green is generally considered to be a defensive-minded, player-friendly coach who could be a nice fit next to May. His ability to make genuine connections with players could serve both him and the team well, as the Mavericks build around young star Cooper Flagg, newly drafted Morez Johnson, Jr. and a developing roster that is likely to get younger. Nothing is official yet, and the Golden State Warriors are rumored to be in the mix for his services, but it seems a strong possibility he will be in Dallas alongside May.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

Mike Gansey isn’t done yet.

The Sixers have agreed to terms with free-agent Anferenee Simons, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The deal is for two years and $12.3 million.

If Simons has any type of success in Philadelphia, he’ll likely turn down that player option and elect free agency. While we don’t know for sure, it seems like Simons’ contract will take up the rest of the Sixers’ tax-payer mid-level exception. The bulk of that is going to Dean Wade. This also makes it likely that Ariel Hukporti’s slightly-above-minimum deal will be part of the team’s bi-annual exception.

One of the Sixers’ greatest weaknesses last season was their bench. They lacked scoring punch as Quentin Grimes struggled for much of the second half of the season and postseason. Simons, 27, is a terrific scorer and shooter. Splitting last season between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, Simons averaged 14.3 points in 24.9 minutes per game. He hit 38.5% of his threes on an extremely healthy volume, attempting nearly 10 triples per 36 minutes.

That shooting becomes especially important after the Jaylen Brown trade. Say what you want about Paul George, but his elite three-point shooting was much needed on a team that lacked outside shooters. This will also allow rookie Labaron Philon Jr. to come along slowly and not be forced into big minutes for a team who is suddenly all-in.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Utah Jazz have reportedly agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in which the Lakers will get Walker Kessler on a brand-new four-year, $130m deal with a player option after year three. In return, the Jazz will receive two unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 as well as two pick swaps in 2028 and 2030.

Walker Kessler is a good young player with plenty of room to improve. This move undoubtedly makes the Utah Jazz a worse team in 2026-27. Still, it is hard to imagine a more perfect center to start next to Jaren Jackson Jr. than Walker Kessler. So why do the Jazz make this move right now? Are they going to waste Jaren and Lauri together? Let’s dive in.

The Jazz are finally operating as if they are an actual NBA team competing to get better and win a championship. For many years during the dark ages of rebuilding and acquiring talent, decisions like this didn’t really matter nearly as much because the Jazz weren’t really trying to win basketball games. Now that the Jazz have acquired the talent they tanked for so long to obtain, like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Darryn Peterson to join guys like Lauri Markkanen, Ace Bailey, and Keyonte George, they are tasked with evaluating which players and contracts best open the biggest window into contention possible.

Let’s be honest: with or without Walker Kessler, the Jazz probably weren’t beating the Thunder or Spurs in a seven-game series next season. The future is bright, but openly acknowledging that is okay. Both teams have the luxury of elite, all-NBA-level talent on rookie-scale, team-friendly contracts. The Jazz simply do not possess that same level of flexibility.

So… What does any of that have to do with the Jazz not bringing Walker Kessler back? Bringing back Walker Kessler at that number, quite frankly, would have forced the Jazz into a difficult space roster-building-wise. I still think the Jazz were willing to do it because they are a better team with Walker Kessler than they are without him, but that extension makes it very difficult to extend Keyonte George and keep a guy like Lauri Markkanen. But when a desperate Lakers team offers two unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps, you don’t overthink it. You pick your jaw up from the floor, and you make that deal without hesitation. Those picks are so far into the future that there is no telling what the Lakers roster could look like at that point.

Draft picks in the NBA are currency. Draft picks are the means by which big-time deals get done. I do not anticipate that the Utah Jazz made that deal for Walker Kessler with the expectation of actually making the draft selections in 2031 and 2033. By making that deal, the Jazz have unlocked the assets to pursue virtually any trade they want. They also preserve the financial flexibility to keep Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen together for longer if they choose. Now, the Jazz window opens and overlaps just as the two top dogs in the Western Conference lose flexibility. Victor Wembanyama is in the last year of his rookie contract, and will surely get a massive payday from the Spurs. Stephon Castle is also likely to be paid handsomely within the next two years when his rookie contract ends. The Oklahoma City Thunder are already starting to feel the effects of decreased salary flexibility, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set to make $20m more following the 2026-27 season. Can you see where this is headed for Utah?

The Jazz undoubtedly are a worse basketball team today than they were yesterday. I still expect them to compete for a playoff spot in 2026-27, but it isn’t as sure as it would have been had we retained Walker Kessler. That said, it is hard not to be ecstatic about the flexibility the Jazz now have with both their salary cap and draft picks. The Jazz took a small step back in the short term to put themselves in line to take a giant step forward, right as their fellow Western Conference giants are having to come back to the pack a little bit themselves.

It is hard not to be excited as a Jazz fan right now… The Jazz may have taken a small step backward today, but they are positioned to take a much larger step forward in the not-so-distant future. Our ceiling has never been higher.

LeBron James is searching for his next NBA team and the highly-anticipated decision could have implications for his son, Bronny James.

James has reportedly already narrowed down his search to two finalists, but he won’t rush into anything. The four-time NBA champion informed the Los Angeles Lakers he would not return for the 2026-27 season on Tuesday.

James seemingly calculated the timing of his announcement to the organization as Bronny’s $2.3 million contract with the Lakers became fully guaranteed the day before, making the third-year guard eligible to be traded.

Now, it appears James’ new destination could also signal the end of Bronny’s tenure with the Lakers. NBA insider Dave McMenamin reported a subsequent move could be made with Bronny once James joins a team.

“LeBron has spoken at length about how meaningful it has been to be teammates with his son, and those feelings only grew late last season when they shared the court in competitive games.

“It’s easy to think the James family would want that connection to continue,” McMenamin writes.

If Bronny doesn’t leave LA, he would continue to develop under head coach JJ Redick and glean from the Lakers’ star-studded trio in Luka Doncic, Walker Kessler and Austin Reaves.

James and Bronny became the first-father son duo to play together in an NBA game, first sharing the court as Lakers teammates in October 2024. The pair also became the first father-son pair to take the court in an NBA playoff game.

Bronny has always been evaluated under the microscope of being James’ son, which may be a factor into whether he stays under the bright lights of Hollywood or joins his father via trade.

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Bill Simmons wasn’t coherent. He’d just woken up from anesthesia. 

But when his wife picked him up from his colonoscopy Wednesday, she revealed news to her husband that he couldn’t believe: Jaylen Brown was traded to the 76ers for a package including Paul George. 

“I think I’m dead. I think I died. The anesthesia killed me,” Simmons said on his self-named podcast Thursday of what he said in the moment. 

“I was just trying to process it. … it’s like I had the head injured.” 

Simmons’ wife told him their daughter, a major Brown fan, was extremely upset due to the trade. 

The Ringer founder was stumbling out of the hospital when the trade happened Wednesday afternoon.

“When this trade happened, I had a camera up my ass, and I had a Paul George rammed up my ass. That’s how I’m going to remember July 1, 2026,” Simmons said of his reaction to the trade. 

After spending 10 years with the Celtics, Brown was traded to the 76ers on Wednesday for George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. 

The first-rounders are for 2028 and 2031, while the second-rounders are for 2028 and 2030.

The Celtics’ decision to move on from Brown comes shortly after he was rumored to be the centerpiece in a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. 

Antetokounmpo ultimately went to the Heat, but Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens still remained non-committal on Brown’s future with the team. 

ESPN insider Shams Charania also revealed that the Celtics were asking for at least four first-round picks in a Brown trade, but that never materialized. 

During a decade with the Celtics, Brown left no stone untouched, winning Finals MVP in 2024 and averaging more than 20 points per game every year since the 2019-20 season. 

George will have major shoes to fill this upcoming season after averaging 17.3 points per game with the 76ers last year.