“This Can’t Be a True Story”: Charles Barkley Left in Utter Disbelief After Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown for Paul George

Shooting guard Jaylen Brown was officially traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, and no one is more shocked than 76ers legend Charles Barkley. Brown was traded by the Boston Celtics for Paul George and several draft picks. Barkley believes the trade is massively advantageous for the Sixers.

No one saw it coming, considering George has declined in production on the court. Brown is still an MVP-caliber player. Barkley spoke about his surprise in a video posted on X by NBC Sports Philadelphia.

"This can't be a true story. There's so much fake stuff on the internet. Now I'm like, 'No, they didn't trade (Jaylen Brown) to the Sixers. ... They gave up Paul George and some draft picks.' I said, 'The Sixers just got away with murder, man.'"

To Barkley's point, for most of the 2025-26 season, Brown was left to hold down the Celtics' fort due to Jayson Tatum's ruptured Achilles tendon. Despite that challenge, Brown managed to lead the Celtics to the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. He also finished in 6th place in the MVP race. The five-time All-Star averaged 28.7 ppg in the regular season in 2025, while averaging 25.7 ppg in the postseason.

In contrast, 36-year-old George averaged 17.3 ppg for the Sixers last season. His production has seen a marked decline since his career best of 28.0 ppg in 2018 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"There's no way, rationally, you can think that was a good trade. Giving up an aging guy to a guy who just probably was the MVP for the first half of the season. It's crazy," Barkley added.

It'll be interesting to see if the Sixers become legitimate contenders. However, we're yet to see if his personality will collide with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

With JB headed to Philadelphia, Boston fans will be left hoping that their star player Jayson Tatum can keep the franchise going.

Jayson Tatum Opens Up About Celtics Trading Jaylen Brown

After nearly a decade of sharing the court as teammates, the duo of Brown and Jayson Tatum has come to an end. Throughout nine seasons, the two stars have established themselves as the faces of the Celtics franchise. They even won the championship in 2024, the franchise's first title since 2008.

Tatum is set to enter his next chapter with the Celtics, now without Brown by his side. In a recent presentation of his new children's book, 'Baby Dunks-a-Lot', Tatum spoke on how he felt about the trade.

“To be honest, weird. It’s weird. You play on a team with a guy for 9 years. I was fortunate enough to go to the finals with him twice, and win a championship, and push each other to be the players that we are today.”

"The NBA is an incredible business; it’s an incredible job, but there are some downsides to the business and moments like this, where you just kind of feel like you’re going to be on the team with somebody, because that’s all you know,” Tatum continued. “And then it’s just like, one day you find out that they’re no longer on your team anymore. And... somebody that you’ve been to war with, essentially, is on a different team…"

The upcoming 2026-27 season will see Brown and Tatum face off for the first time.

Securing a victory over his former team would be the ultimate statement for him, letting the Celtics know that letting him go was a mistake.