As the NBA world awaits another LeBron James decision, the Philadelphia 76ers jumped in and stole all the headlines by making a stunning trade for Jaylen Brown on Wednesday night.
We’ll get into the details below, but just know this was a massive score for the Sixers that headlines our list below of the five best moves of the NBA offseason so far. We still have to wait and see where James ends up. When we have the answer, these rankings will likely be updated. But until then, here’s where things stand.
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- 76ers score Jaylen Brown
A deal that came out of nowhere shakes up the balance of power in the East
The word “insane” has become pretty watered down in today’s sports parlance, but this Brown-to-Philly deal is insane. The Sixers are sending the Celtics Paul George, two first-round picks (2028 and 2031) and two second-round picks (2028 and 2030), according to ESPN, and in return get an in-his-prime MVP-level player to pair with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
Count me in for the retrospective report we’ll eventually get on how bad things had gotten between Brown and the Celtics, or just how toxic they felt Brown’s multi-layered grievances were going to be for them to feel they needed to move on this badly.
Because listen: George has been regarded as one of the worst contracts in the league since he showed up in Philadelphia. The Sixers probably should have had to give up draft capital just to get off that deal. Forget getting Brown.
Jaylen Brown trade grades: 76ers get ‘A+’ for landing Celtics star as Boston makes baffling decision
Sam Quinn
Jaylen Brown trade grades: 76ers get ‘A+’ for landing Celtics star as Boston makes baffling decision
George is a 36-year-old, super-injury-prone 3-and-D player who is set to make $54 million next season with a $56.5 million player option in the season following that. The draft picks Boston gets here are cool. It would’ve been better if Boston could’ve gotten 2033 instead of 2028, as by then there’s a much better chance the Sixers will stink. But who knows? Maybe they will end up pretty valuable as Embiid fades. But even without Embiid, the Sixers now have a legit Big Three to move forward with in Brown, Maxey and Edgecombe.
In most cases, you have to gut your roster to get a player like Brown. Independent of the draft picks, Philly just swaps George for Brown straight up? Good lord. What a deal. Now, the Sixers don’t have a lot of depth and who knows if Embiid can stay healthy. But if he can, this is a championship starting unit that, by the way, I would be considering quite strongly if I were LeBron James.
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- Clippers trade Kawhi Leonard
It was time for the failed Kawhi era to end in L.A., and the Clippers got a haul in return
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer saying he didn’t want or plan to trade Leonard was always bogus. The Clippers would have been crazy to extend Leonard’s contract. This is a guy who barely played in half the Clippers’ games during his seven seasons in L.A., but after playing in 65 last season, and at an MVP level no less, his market was never going to be higher. They had to trade him.
But there was no guarantee they were going to get as good a deal as they got from Toronto, which sent them a total of four draft picks (unprotected firsts in 2031 and 2033 and two seconds), a first-round pick swap in 2027, Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick.
For an injury-prone 35-year-old, that is a haul. And it’s in keeping with the borderline-amazing work the Clippers have done to dig themselves out from the massive hole the original trade for Leonard and Paul George put them in.
Kawhi Leonard trade grades: Clippers get ‘A+’ for franchise-altering pivot as Raptors take major risk
Sam Quinn
Kawhi Leonard trade grades: Clippers get ‘A+’ for franchise-altering pivot as Raptors take major risk
First, they let Paul George walk for nothing two summers ago when it would’ve been easy to overpay him with a new arena to fill. Then they swapped a 36-year-old All-Star point guard, James Harden, for a 26-year-old All-Star point guard in Darius Garland. They traded Ivica Zubac to the Pacers for a 2026 top-four protected pick — which landed at No. 5 and thus delivered the Clippers Keaton Wagler — and a 2029 first.
Now add these two future first-rounders from Toronto, and suddenly this Clippers team has gone from basically having no future building blocks to a young All-Star point guard, an even younger potential All-Star point guard behind him, and a restocked draft chest. All while ridding themselves of what would have become dead-weight deals. Letting George walk was a single. Trading Harden was a double. Trading Zubac was a triple. Trading Leonard was a grand slam.
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- Raptors trade for Kawhi Leonard
Toronto got back in title contention by bringing back the man who led the team to the 2019 championship
I love this deal for the Raptors almost as much as I love it for the Clippers. Leonard goes back to Toronto, where in 2019 he authored the greatest one-year story in NBA history by delivering the Raptors their first championship. And now he puts them in position to win a second.
Toronto is by no means the favorite in the East, but outside of the Knicks, who just lost Mitchell Robinson by the way, look around the conference and tell me who is definitively better than the Raptors.
The Pistons barely got out of the first round after winning 60 games, and we still don’t even know what’s going to happen with Jalen Duren. The Celtics lost Brown, as previously mentioned. The Cavaliers were no match for the Knicks, and the simple truth is nobody is scared of a Harden-led team.
The Heat got Giannis Antetokounmpo, sure, but they lost Norman Powell and don’t have nearly enough shooting to support their frontcourt of Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. The Magic can’t score. The Hawks are pretty good but certainly not great. The 76ers added Brown, but lack depth and nobody would bet very much on Embiid staying healthy.
So you have the Knicks and the Pacers, who are bringing back Tyrese Haliburton from the 2025 Finals team and replaced Myles Turner with Zubac. Toronto has every right to believe it’s in the same class as Indiana, Miami, Philadelphia, any of these non-Knicks teams — at least until we see if LeBron ends up on any of them.
Either way, just as it did in 2019, Leonard’s presence vaults Toronto into contention. They already took Cleveland to seven games with a roster that defends and runs like crazy, but lacked the elite half-court shot-maker every contender needs. Scottie Barnes is overtasked as that guy. He’s the Scottie Pippen, the do-everything defender/athlete who will get you 20 points in the cracks. Leonard is the Michael Jordan. That’s worth the cost of the draft picks. Ingram was a negative for them moving forward anyway. Gradey Dick is whatever.
Keeping Leonard healthy is a concern. The good news is he just came off one of the healthiest and arguably the best regular season of his career. He played in 65 games, averaging 27.9 points and 6.4 rebounds on 50/39/89 shooting splits. The best part for Toronto? It will reportedly be only a two-year deal for Leonard. It’s probably going to be north of $60 million annually, but even if Leonard can’t stay healthy, this isn’t a contract that’s going to bury the Raptors long-term.
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