Ever since Jaylen Brown 's exit from the Boston Celtics , the negative coverage has followed him. The Philadelphia 76ers clearly won the trade as they secured an MVP-caliber star, while replacing Paul George 's contract. Despite JB's clear upside, ESPN's veteran raises a question that increases head coach Nick Nurse's headache.
"Their number one thing outside of Tyrese Maxey should be, 'We need to develop VJ Edgecombe . Like, that is our future there,' Vince Goodwill, ESPN NBA senior writer, said on the latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast . "Because he ain't making max money, but he will be a max player at some point in the near future. Like, don't just go around collecting things.
"And I'm not saying that Jaylen Brown is like, 'Hey, just going out collecting things'. Maybe they bought it, they picked up a depreciated asset, and you got rid of Paul George. So you're looking at this as a positive, but they also have to keep their eye on the ball and not be so inundated with 'We've got to maximize Joel Embiid .'
While PG's contract and fitness were always a concern, the financial implications still matter. The 76ers now have roughly 95% of the NBA salary cap ($164.961 million) tied up in Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown, with the trio combining for approximately $156 million in 2026-27 cap hits. Now, the question of Jaylen Brown potentially hampering Edgecombe's progress is real.
While JB finished sixth in the MVP ranking, he had a usage percentage of 36.2%. Without Jayson Tatum , who was sidelined for the majority of the season, the number makes sense.
Clearly, Brown was the 1A option for Boston, but the 76ers already have Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and the emerging Edgecombe. Embiid's career usage average has never been below 32.9%. Plus, Maxey operated with 29.4%.
So it will push Edgecombe down the pecking order. The young guard is looking to build off an impressive rookie season after averaging 16 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists across 75 games. While his production was noteworthy, his usage was at 20.1% as a rookie. But that number is expected to go down with Brown's presence.
While on paper, the move proves the right one for the 76ers, they still have to figure out the fit. Jaylen Brown's $182 million over the next three seasons and $64 million for the 2028-29 campaign also adds more pressure for Philly.
Recently, the Celtics' internal valuation puts more questions on JB. Insider Brian Windhorst also reported that the Celtics didn't view it as the "best season" for their 5x All-Star.
"They felt that Derrick White had a better season. The statistics that people use to analyze said that." Another report stated that "the Celtics believed Brown went off script too often during playoff games."
Since Brown had more turnovers (25) than assists (23) during the first-round series against the 76ers, analytics across the league felt Jaylen Brown was a negative asset.
Brown hits extension eligibility with the Sixers on July 26 and could ink a projected two-year, $142 million deal kicking in for 2029-30. With Maxey also eligible after this season overlapping Embiid's player option – Philly faces a brutal high-salary squeeze through 2028-29 that demands fast chemistry and efficiency gains, or those massive cap hits will sting even more if injuries or fit issues hit.
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