Boston took an All-Star wing in the middle of his prime and shipped him out for Paul George's contract and a couple of picks that won't matter for years. Philadelphia gave up draft capital it can afford to lose for a player good enough to be the best guy in almost anyone else's starting five. That's not a close call, and preseason box scores have nothing to do with why.
The trade became official in July. Brown headed to Philadelphia, George and draft compensation (including first-round picks in 2028 and 2031, plus a pair of seconds) went back to Boston. Every grade and reaction since makes the same point: you don't trade a player like Brown for an aging star on that heavy a contract and walk away thinking you won. Boston's front office can talk about cap flexibility and timelines all it wants. What it actually did was hand a conference rival its best player.
Monday night in Philadelphia did nothing to complicate that story. Brown had a huge scoring night in his preseason debut, the kind that makes you understand why a team builds a season around him instead of an aging star on an expiring deal. New York came away with the better final score, 120-97, and nobody in Philadelphia should lose a minute of sleep over it. Preseason outcomes are furniture. What matters is that the best player on the floor wore a 76ers jersey, and that's going to be true most nights this season.
Judging anything off one meaningless October game, with neither roster fully healthy, is a fool's errand. Philadelphia already lost its backup center for the year to a torn Achilles in that same game, a reminder that preseason health news matters more than preseason stat lines. If you want to wait for real minutes against real opponents before crowning anything, that's the correct instinct.
The trade grade and the preseason box score are two different questions, though, and only one needs more games to settle. The trade was lopsided the day it was signed. Giving up a player in his prime for an aging star's expiring money and some distant picks only looks worse as time passes. Boston lost more than an asset in July; it lost the argument.
Fans should slow down on the bench, though. Philadelphia hasn't had this kind of depth on paper in a long stretch. But a strong preseason line from a journeyman center is the oldest false signal in basketball. It happens every October, and it rarely survives the regular season intact. Enjoy it, but don't build a parade around it.
Boston handed Philadelphia a star for pennies, and every game Brown plays from here only makes that decision look worse.
