FILE - Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket against Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa,File)

PHILADELPHIA — Reeling from an early exit in the NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown was still a Boston Celtics star when he dissed Joel Embiid and called him a flopper on a livestream.

“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”

Did someone say breaking news?

Brown might have to make amends with Embiid now that they are teammates on the 76ers in the wake of an out-of-nowhere trade that rocked the NBA and again positions Philadelphia as an instant contender for the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983.

You know, because trying to win it all with a hired gun worked so well for the Sixers with Paul George. And James Harden. And Jimmy Butler.

The Sixers have another star to pair with Embiid — and the true franchise cornerstones in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and second-year standout VJ Edgecombe — after new team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey pulled off a whale of a move in his first month on the job.

Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Celtics to the Sixers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.

Boston is getting George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.

“I’m still processing how this all went down,” Brown wrote in a statement released Thursday. “I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.

Without a game played, the Sixers are the early winners in this deal.

Gansey somehow shed the two years and $110 million left on the oft-injured and aging George’s deal for a bona fide superstar who was sixth in the NBA MVP voting this past season. The 36-year-old George — who was suspended 25 games for flunking a drug test — played in only 78 total games for the Sixers and has played more than 56 in a season only one time since 2019.

His contract seemed immovable.

Suddenly — as they say in Boston — anything is possible in Philadelphia.

Sticking around

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors have agreed to a multiyear contract extension with coach Darko Rajakovic, who will soon lead a team featuring Kawhi Leonard.

The Raptors announced the agreement on Thursday, days after making a blockbuster deal to bring Leonard back the franchise he led to the 2019 NBA title.

Rajakovic led Toronto to 46 wins last season, guiding the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 before losing in Game 7 of an first-round series against Cleveland.

He helped the Raptors bounce back from winning 30 or fewer games the previous two seasons under him. Rajakovic is 101-105 over three seasons with the Raptors.

Rajakovic was hired by the Raptors a little more than three years ago, replacing Nick Nurse after he was fired. He is the second Serbian-born coach in the NBA, following former Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokosov.

Born and raised in Serbia, Rajakovic has been involved in coaching since his teens. He coached in Spain before coming to the United States.

He was a head coach for two seasons in the G League before becoming an assistant with the Oklahoma City Thunder during 2014-15 season.

Rajakovic spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant with Phoenix and joined the Memphis Grizzlies the following year for a three-season stint before Toronto gave him a chance to lead an NBA team.

A new rule

Summer League games might end a few minutes earlier than usual this year.The NBA announced Thursday that the “one free throw rule” will be used at the summer leagues happening this month in Salt Lake City, Northern California and Las Vegas.

The rule designed to speed up play means any foul that would typically result in the awarding of one, two or three free throws will instead result in a single free-throw attempt. That attempt will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces. The G League has used this rule since 2019-20.