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Wednesday's blockbuster NBA trade news is fairly unprecedented.
After the Philadelphia 76ers eliminated the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2026 playoffs, completing a 3-1 comeback, just weeks later, the rivals swapped a pair of stars.
Jaylen Brown is a 76er and Paul George is a Celtic a stunning swap that carries implications beyond on-the-court fits.
Hypothetically, the best versions of Brown and George are both strong two-way wings.
But financially, it's also one of the most expensive trades in NBA history.
Philadelphia may be parting ways with the $200 million contract it gave George as a free agent two years ago, but the 76ers are also now taking on the second-largest total contract in the league.
Boston, meanwhile, will get flexibility sooner, but is still set to pay a 36-year-old declining star over the next two years.
Here's a look at the George and Brown contracts and how they'll impact Boston and Philadelphia's books in years to come.
Paul George contract - Years Remaining: 2 - Amount Remaining: $114.32 million Per Spotrac, on the four-year, $212 million deal he signed in Philadelphia in 2024, George still has around $114 million remaining over the next two seasons.
George's contract, even when it was signed, was always viewed across the league as inflated for a mid-30s star.
Philadelphia, seeking a third star next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, was willing to give George a max deal in order to pry him away from the Clippers NBA stars rarely move in straightforward free agent deals nowadays, but George got the significant contract he desired from the 76ers in that scenario.
Now, after appearing in just 78 regular season games for Philadelphia over two seasons, George's durability have only made his contract look more questionable.
Per Spotrac, he will carry a cap hit of $57.74 million in 2026-27, then he carries a $56.59 million player option in 2027-28 that he will likely opt into.
If the Celtics hold onto George through the length of his deal, he'll be playing alongside Jayson Tatum through the 2027-28 season.
He would then become a free agent which would give the Celtics flexibility to pursue new star free agents to pair with Tatum as soon as 2028.
Jaylen Brown contract - Years Remaining: 3 - Amount Remaining: $185.02 million Per Spotrac, on the five-year, $285.4 million extension he signed with the Celtics in 2024 after winning a title, Brown has three years and around $185 million remaining.
Considering he was given the second-largest total contract in NBA history, trailing only his teammate Jayson Tatum's $313.9 million extension in Boston, Brown's deal was viewed as player-friendly from the moment it was agreed to.
While he's undoubtedly one of the better two-way players in the league, Brown's 2026-27 cap hit of $57.74 million is more than names like Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards.
Still, Brown's 2026-27 salary was so similar to George's that the trade aligned almost seamlessly for each team's current books.
The difference for Philadelphia, however, is that the team is now slated to pay Brown $61.67 million in 2027-28 and $65.6 million in 2028-29 before he would hit free agency in 2029.
Brown's deal will only get more expensive over the coming seasons and Philadelphia, already with multiple max-level players, is now taking on one of the highest-paid players in the NBA.
MORE: What's next for Celtics after Jaylen Brown trade? Celtics salary outlook With Tatum making $58.46 million in 2026-27, and George making $57.74 million, the Celtics are set to have two of the top-10 players in the NBA next season.
But that was already expected because Brown has a similar cap hit to George's in 2026-27, Boston's books look very similar to how they did before the trade.
Considering George and Brown will both be paid around $60 million in each of the next two seasons, and Brown is very clearly the better, younger and more durable player right now, it's fair to wonder why the Celtics were willing to accept just two first-rounders and two-second rounders, alongside George, to trade their 2024 Finals MVP.
But it's worth noting that if the Celtics were adamant about moving on from Brown, with the size of his contract, it was going to be difficult to trade and by bringing back George, Boston at least gets flexibility as soon as 2028.
If they had waited out Brown's full contract, they would've had to wait until 2029 to find a new star, while also having to pay Brown as much as $65 million in 2028-29.
Boston Celtics after trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George and two first-round picks.
Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) July 1, 2026 Salary cap situation relatively unchanged.
George also has a trade bonus that increases his $54.1 million salary to $57.7 million max.
They have a surplus of 8 first-round picks and 7 seconds.
pic.twitter.com/xbq4AlnjaR On top of the draft capital, Boston did get at least a bit of financial wiggle room with the George-Brown swap.
Additionally, NBA expiring deals are typically easier to move; if George isn't flipped by the Celtics this offseason, he could have more trade suitors in 2027.
Essentially, the Celtics' salary situation didn't change much in the short-term but over the next few years, the Brown-George swap will eventually give Brad Stevens the chance to bring in a co-star for Tatum sooner.
76ers salary outlook If the 76ers proved one thing with Wednesday's blockbuster, it's that they are all-in on the remaining years of Embiid's prime, hoping the big man can stay healthy for a championship push.
Before the Brown trade, Philadelphia was slated to pay the trio of Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey a total of around $156 million in 2026-27 alone.
Of those players, George was set to be the first one off the books, a free agent by 2028 while Embiid and Maxey are both under contract through 2028-29.
The Brown trade, however, gives the 76ers a third player who will be making at least $40 million in each of the next three NBA seasons and the duo of Embiid and Brown alone will both make north of $60 million by 2027-28.
Here's a look at the new Embiid-Maxey-Brown trio's cap hits over the coming seasons, per Spotrac: | Player | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | | Joel Embiid | $57.99 million | $62.62 million | $67.26 million (player option) | | Tyrese Maxey | $40.77 million | $43.58 million | $46.39 million | | Jaylen Brown | $57.74 million | $61.67 million | $65.61 million | By swapping George for Brown, the 76ers did get younger and more durable but financially, they're committing to their current trio for three full seasons, doubling-down on one of the most expensive teams in the league.
For now, Philadelphia is still under the 2026-27 luxury tax because of how similar Brown and George's current cap hits are.
But keeping the team under the tax will be a significant challenge in years to come, especially once V.J.
Edgecombe becomes eligible for an extension.
76ers with Jaylen Brown pic.twitter.com/QZDy6NgTpV Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2026.