August 27, 2026
Kevin Jairaj/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The final tally on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as teammates: nine seasons, one championship.
After acquiring Jaylen Brown and LeBron James in the same offseason, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has set his new team up to be a full-blown championship contender.
The only problem: ahead of the 2026-27 season, the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be as competitive as ever.
Over the next two weeks, PhillyVoice will be examining the 10 teams in the Eastern Conference which pose the greatest threats to James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and the Sixers.
Up next: the Boston Celtics, whose stunning trade of Brown to their rivals prompted the Sixers' dream summer. Now, Paul George is a member of the Celtics, whose organizational bet is that Brown was not as integral to their perennial dominance as many have given him credit for.
Beyond the Brown-for-George swap, how much different will the Celtics look next season? Can Boston, with Jayson Tatum back in the fold for the full season, remain title contenders?
SCOUTING THE SIXERS' COMPETITION
Washington Wizards | Orlando Magic | Atlanta Hawks
Miami Heat | Toronto Raptors | Cleveland Cavaliers
Indiana Pacers | Detroit Pistons | Boston Celtics
The obvious change the Celtics made was their deal with the Sixers, tapping George as Tatum's new running mate on the wing. But the Celtics also added Mitchell Robinson, utilizing the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception to form one of the stronger center rotations in the NBA and add a player with a superpower:
| Added | Retained | Lost |
| Paul George | Ron Harper Jr. | Jaylen Brown |
| Mitchell Robinson | Amari Williams | |
| Chris Cenac Jr. | ||
| Mike Conley |
Robinson's offensive rebounding is historically great; he will make a major difference for a Celtics team which loves to crash the glass and shoot second-chance threes. Robinson and Neemias Queta will provide 48 strong minutes at the five; when the injury-prone Robinson needs a night off, Boston can lean on stretch big Luka Garza or rookie first-round pick Chris Cenac Jr. for minutes.
SIXERS FILM STUDIES
Jaylen Brown's strengths | Jaylen Brown's weaknesses
Anfernee Simons | Dean Wade | Ariel Hukporti
Aside from Robinson stabilizing their center mix and George replacing Brown, there is nothing all that different here. But those are two major changes:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Derrick White | Sam Hauser | Paul George | Jayson Tatum | Neemias Queta |
| Payton Pritchard | Hugo González | Baylor Scheierman | Jordan Walsh | Mitchell Robinson |
| Mike Conley | Ron Harper Jr. | Chris Cenac Jr. | Luka Garza |
Boston could very easily start Pritchard; they probably should. If they want to bring him off the bench like they did in the second half of last season – ensuring he could be staggered with Derrick White – any of Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman or Hugo González could start in between White and the wings.
Ultimately, George could prove to be an easier fit within Boston's three-point-centric offense than Brown, particularly if Tatum returns to peak form and both White and Pritchard prove capable of assuming significant scoring burdens. The most pressing factor that idea hinges on, of course, is George staying healthy. He is a nine-time All-Star and still a very good player, but George missed more than half of his regular-season games in two years with the Sixers. Defensively, George will be a major upgrade from Brown, and when he is on the floor the Celtics could be elite defensively.
Can George, White and Pritchard each provide enough on-ball scoring to negate the loss of Brown, whose signature skill is his scoring volume? That is likely the most important question facing the Celtics.
MORE: After 'crazy transition,' Brown ready to win with Sixers
The only former Sixers player on this team is George, and it is truly remarkable to think his four-year contract worth well over $200 million – which, for well over a year has been considered one of the few most onerous deals in the entire NBA – was the piece which got the ball rolling on the Sixers' incredible offseason.
To most teams, George was an overpaid, past-his-prime, injury-prone player not worth taking on. But the Celtics saw him as a capable replacement for an outgoing All-Star, with two-way utility and a shorter financial commitment. George being uniquely valuable to Boston led the Sixers to land Brown, and that move led them to sign James. It is one of the more stunning sequences of transactions in recent NBA history.
SIXERS SIGN LEBRON JAMES
James' decision | Projecting Sixers' rotation | James' impact, on and off the court
