MY HEART BREAKS FOR BOSTON

Stranger things have happened in the NBA.

For example, the absurdity of the Boston Celtics letting go of Jaylen Brown for Paul f'n George.

I mean, we went from having Giannis Antetokounmpo to Playoff P/Pandemic P!

Gross.

My friends are telling me it's a shitty deal, and I don't want to believe them because I AM IN DENIAL.

WHAT PHILADELPHIA GOT:

JAYLEN BROWN

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
REGULAR	71	28.7	6.9	5.1	1	0.4
PLAYOFFS	7	25.7	5.7	3.3	0.9	1.1

	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29
AGE	30	31	32
CONTRACT	57.08M	61.02M	64.95M

WHAT BOSTON GOT:

PAUL GEORGE

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
REGULAR	37	17.3	5.3	3.6	1.7	0.4
PLAYOFFS	11	16.4	3.9	3	1.3	0.5

	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29
AGE	36	37	38
CONTRACT	54.13M	56.59M	FA

FIRST ROUND PICK	TBD
FIRST ROUND PICK	TBD
SECOND ROUND PICK	TBD
SECOND ROUND PICK	TBD

I hope and pray that Brad Stevens has something great planned here, and not that he's simply trying to destroy Philadelphia's chemistry from within, because I don't think a guy who just got there has built enough of a culture to ruin that team's dynamic.

I mean, it was fun rooting for the New York Knicks in the 2026 NBA Finals. While I normally root for the team that comes out of the East against its Western counterpart, I think I can live with rooting for other teams next season.

Yes, I should still be optimistic about my Celtics, but ever since they benched Nikola Vucevic, a player I'm a huge fan of because he carried my fantasy basketball teams to so many victories and first-place finishes over the years, in favor of a bunch of second-stringers, I think I've had enough of my Celtics for now.

I was even a fan of them last season when we all thought they were in a gap year with Jayson Tatum hurt. They exceeded expectations, but then they made me believe they had a real chance, only to virtually give up against Philadelphia.

Anyway, at least the Los Angeles Dodgers are still doing well this season. Shohei Ohtani has been doing his thing, and I can find solace in the fact that Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Andy Pages, Max Muncy, Tommy Edman, and even Dalton Rushing are finding ways to keep me glued to baseball.

I can even watch tennis now, especially with Alex Eala slowly creeping into top-tier status and Naomi Osaka doing her best to make the tennis court her catwalk.

And yeah, this site is mostly a PBA site, and while the Governors' Cup pre-conference has been very chaotic, I find solace in rooting for the success of the league rather than for any particular team. At least that's not making me nuts.

And of course, I am a ride-or-die Gilas Pilipinas fan, and as long as they compete well, they'll always get my vote.

But Boston? Man, I can still root for them, but bandwagoning other teams might be a good idea with the way they're conducting their business.

Lastly, I know I've been ranting a lot in this blog, but I just want to use this last part to appreciate Jaylen Brown and his contributions to the Boston organization.

I know we've seen him as Jayson Tatum's sidekick for most of his career, but he has proven to the world that he can be the number one guy when he needs to. He's like Scottie Pippen after Michael Jordan retired for the first time. Again, we never thought Brown would lead the Celtics during their gap year when every important player from that championship squad got traded. That's why this hurts. Yes, Brown led Boston despite the absence of Tatum and the departures of Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis, but he'll now join a team that already has Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Joel Embiid.

This means he can be the top guy, or he can simply be a complementary piece to one of those three, and that's why this stings even more.

All I want is for him to become the leader of the squad because he's capable of doing exactly that.

Thank you, Jaylen Brown.

Paul George, do better.