76ers Star Tyrese Maxey Seemingly Reacts to Jaylen Brown Trade News

The Boston Celtics reportedly tried to trade Jaylen Brown, their five-time All-Star and 2024 NBA Finals MVP, to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the Bucks shipped Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat instead.

Roughly a week later, the Celtics succeeded in trading Brown.

“The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN,” Shams Charania reported Wednesday, including the full draft compensation details here.

76ers All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey took to X within the hour of Charania’s report, so it would appear that he was reacting in real time to learning Brown just became his teammate. “The NBA is doing that THING AGAIN!” Maxey wrote.

Brown and the Celtics have been responsible for ending the 76ers’ season three times over the past nine seasons. Philadelphia exacted revenge by overcoming a 3-1 series deficit to simultaneously stun and eliminate the Celtics in the first round of this year’s NBA playoffs.

Familiar playoff pain reared its ugly head after that, however. Philadelphia was swept in humiliating fashion by the eventual champion New York Knicks. The 76ers have not reached the NBA Finals since Allen Iverson led them there in the 2000-01 season, also their last Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Their most recent NBA title came in 1983.

Brown enjoyed six trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, including two Finals appearances. Brown was named the 2024 NBA Finals MVP when the Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks for the franchise’s first championship since 2008. Now, he’ll be tasked with translating his championship experience into any semblance of playoff success in Philadelphia.

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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 9:13 PM.