For everything that happened with Walker Kessler today, at least the Utah Jazz didn't hand him over to the Los Angeles Lakers. He came at a VERY steep price for the Los Angeles Lakers. It hasn't even been a day, and the deal has already aged like wine, as Jaylen Brown just got traded for much less.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown, coming off his best season as a pro, for Paul George (in his mid-30s, injury-prone, and on one of the worst deals in the NBA), two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.
BLOCKBUSTER: The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/xNcNlIV2mh
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2026
The Jazz more or less got the Lakers' future out of the Kessler deal. The Celtics... it's hard to even formulate what they got out of this trade. Two first-round picks is not nothing, but after the season Brown just had, it seems unfathomable that they would him for what they just did.
Plus, Utah had a failsafe in case the Kessler situation turned out the way it did, from trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. to re-signing Jusuf Nurkic, they at least prepared in case the Lakers truly were desperate to add him to their team.
Kessler & Brown may have been kindred spirits pre-trades
No one would have known for sure at the beginning of the offseason that Brown or Kessler would be on different teams. However, reading the tea leaves from both situations - Boston trying to trade Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jazz not giving Kessler the deal he wanted - it ma have fueled some contempt from both of the players.
It's possible both the Celtics and Jazz were comfortable making the decisions they made because they didn't want to deal with unhappy campers in the locker room. If that truly played a part in it, it likely played a legitimate part in why both teams were comfortable with their decisions in the end.
The difference, of course, is that the Jazz took advantage of the Lakers' desperation, while it feels like the Celtics were the desperate ones in this situation. Utah definitely has some questions after this deal, but not nearly as many as Boston.
In a way both the Jazz and the Celtics themselves are kindred spirits because both teams are very much going down different pathways from what everyone thought they were going a few months back. It's possible something else is in store for both of them down the line.
But for now, the Brown deal should make the Jazz sleep a lot better at night unless Kessler makes them pay.
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