The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.It doesn’t feel like the NBA has any more superstar trades to make. Of course, that’s exactly what the NBA wants you to think. That’s how it gets you! The second you believe the NBA can’t trade any more stars, it’ll send players to places you never imagined. This is the best league.Brown outDid the Celtics really need to do this?The Jaylen Brown saga felt like unnecessary offseason drama the Boston Celtics could endure and then make better with a big-time contract extension.After the Celtics explored the Giannis Antetokounmpo market by dangling Brown in front of Milwaukee, the noise kept getting louder and louder that they might need to trade him. Sometimes, that felt super dramatic. Overly dramatic even. Yes, Brown seemed to feel disrespected, but he was also under contract for the next three years for around $180 million and was eligible for another $142 million over two years. You could have made it very worth his while to get him to drop any ill feelings toward those trade rumors and attempts.That is … if you wanted to offer him the money. Maybe you wanted to let him go stew elsewhere in the league. That’s essentially what the Celtics did. They traded Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for 36-year-old Paul George, a 2028 first-round pick that could end up as a swap, a 2031 first and two second-round picks. This … is the best the Celtics could do? They received less than the Clippers did for a 35-year-old Kawhi Leonard. It’s less than the Jazz received for Walker Kessler. So why is it that a 29-year-old, All-NBA guard couldn’t grab more in a trade?Memorable moments from Jaylen Brown's 10 seasons in BostonIs it because of how vocal he was on social media? Is it because teams don’t believe in him? What did either team accomplish with this deal? Let’s talk to ourselves.Did the Celtics do the right thing here? No, they did not. This feels like an overreaction, without much help coming back. George has an injury history, and he was pretty rough last season. That doesn’t even count his 25-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. The crux of this deal is based on the Sixers being bad enough in 2028 or 2031 that the picks become super valuable. This doesn’t feel like proper value for someone who was All-NBA second team and sixth in MVP voting.What else could the Celtics have done? Nothing. Pay him his extension. Show him that this kind of commitment was a greater sign than them hoping they could get Giannis. It may sound naive, and maybe it is on some level, but the Celtics could have easily massaged this over with money and commitment. Instead, they bailed on the Brown relationship, essentially confirming all his paranoia.Brown deserved a better ending in Boston, Steve Buckley writes.Are the Sixers contenders? They are as close as they’ve been since Allen Iverson was roaming Philadelphia courts. The Sixers weathering the ebbs and flows of Joel Embiid’s availability is key. They can set themselves up for a higher playoff seeding by having Brown, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe most nights. What’s incredible about this trade is that the Celtics just lost to the Sixers when they were up 3-1 in a first-round series. Now they’re sending their second-best player to Philly for the Sixers’ third-best player and some draft capital.