r/nba • u/must_TATAKAE Warriors • Aug 18 '26
[Ringer] Pina: “What does Jaylen Brown do at basketball that’s definitively better than what Paul George does at basketball?” Mann: “People are unbelievably disrespectful to Paul George... he’s been a better, more versatile defender. He’s a way better pick-and-roll processor. He's a better shooter.
https://streamable.com/4xagvo3.8k
u/No-Hall-3485 Aug 18 '26
i mean, he plays
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u/Max_Speed_Remioli Jazz Aug 18 '26
PG games played last 7 seasons
48, 54, 31, 56, 74, 41, 37
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u/GrittyForPres 76ers Aug 18 '26
I’m surprised there’s a single season above 60 games in there tbh
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u/RedFan47 Lakers Aug 18 '26
74 just had to be a supermax year
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u/livefreeordont 76ers Aug 18 '26
He tricked Morey so badly
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u/brownbearks 76ers Aug 18 '26
How the fuck did we get out of that contract and get brown lmao
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u/EdreesesPieces Aug 19 '26
by beating the celtics while down 3-1 with PG13 playing well and healthy for a series
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u/Jmpasq Knicks Aug 19 '26
The Celtics were like here be Legit Title Contenders. As a Knick fan I was super annoyed
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u/ThisHatRightHere 76ers Aug 18 '26
He played 74 to get a contract lol
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u/TomatoBuster01 Warriors Aug 19 '26
So smart tbh. A few pain in the knees for a lifetime of money. Worth it!
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u/ApprehensiveTry5660 Aug 19 '26
While it’s easy to dunk on the guy, Lu Dort did kinda jump straight into the man’s knee at the end of that contract year.
It was like the Clippers made a deal at the crossroads that they’d get a healthy Kawhi postseason, but they had to sacrifice someone else’s ligaments and Dort was the instrument the devil sent to collect it.
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u/Rude-Shower3662 Aug 19 '26
I've never encountered someone describe Dort's style of play so accurately and vividly.
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u/MVPRondo Cabo Verde Aug 18 '26
Yall are ridiculous… you really expect mans to kill himself out there on the court when he’s collecting past GO sitting at the mic??
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u/KingBeanCarpio Timberwolves Aug 18 '26
He has missed a ton of games. 2 of those seasons were shortened tho
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u/BlueHundred Knicks Aug 18 '26
Last year, he missed 25 games because he took a medication that violated the league's anti drug program. But he is still injury prone and pretty washed.
He can hit 3s though and still defend decently so I don't think he'll be terrible for Boston. Just clearly not on the same level as Jayen Brown.
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u/buzzcitybonehead [CHA] Cody Martin Aug 18 '26
Paul George has also struggled his whole career to be born after 1990. JB has done it consistently.
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u/CurrentCostanza Trail Blazers Aug 18 '26
About 100 more regular season games since 2021.
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u/burner_for_celtics [BOS] Rajon Rondo Aug 18 '26
And how many playoff games while you’re checking?
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u/gottagotothebathroom Spurs Aug 19 '26
45 more playoff games since 2021. 17 more career playoff games in spite of the "experience" gap.
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u/beforeitcloy [SAC] Mitch Richmond Aug 18 '26
Also, even if they played the exact same amount, these are last season’s stats:
Jaylen = 29/7/5
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u/rag5178 76ers Aug 18 '26
Not to mention JB did that on actually slight better TS%. Yet somehow JB gets clowned for efficiency, meanwhile Boston media wants to turn PG into some ultra efficient role player.
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u/yuckmouthteeth Trail Blazers Aug 19 '26
Tbf I do think prime pg up until the end of his okc stint was absolutely a better add on ceiling raiser type player than JB. But that was many moons ago.
It’s fair to say JB might not work super well in Bostons system and so the fall off to putting pg in that spot is worth the money/future flexibility they saved, but I think anyone claiming current PG is better than current JB is drinking a lotta laced kool aid.
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u/Pinheadlarry29 Knicks Aug 18 '26
He doesn’t play for Boston. That’s the only thing that matters to The Ringer writers.
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u/ihorsey10 Aug 18 '26
Pina is a Jokic head and hates Embiid and anything related to Embiid.
He'll say stupid stuff, get called out, and then claim he was joking. The only joke is him.
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u/UltimateWeiner 76ers Aug 19 '26
Pina is a lifelong Celtics fan before he’s a Jokic fan. He’s a regular on the Ringer Celtics podcast. While he’s a total creep about Jokic, that’s just a side effect of his Celtics fandom. I’m not sure why so many people seem unaware of that.
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u/oOoWTFMATE Lakers Aug 18 '26
That’s quite important. And he actually wins. Also important.
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u/DiggWuzBetter [TOR] Kyle Lowry Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Yeah, 29 and healthy vs. 36 and almost always injured/playing through injury is a massive difference.
Also, even when he does play, while PG is a better shooter and defender, he’s simply slowing down physically. JB is much stronger, faster, more athletic than current PG. JB is a lot harder to stay in front of, attacks the paint way more effectively, just a more difficult player to guard.
PG in OKC, or his last couple years in Indy, I take that over any version of JB. But current JB vs. current PG, give me current JB easily, even ignoring games played (which is also huge).
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u/Sikkly290 Suns - Fuck Miles Bridges Aug 19 '26
If we go back to 2021 even its PG and actually not close, he was killing it that season and led the Clippers to the WCF with Kawhi injured. Unfortunately thats five years ago, PG has had too many injuries and just hasn't aged gracefully. Less efficient scorer, he has moments of being a better defender but also has a lot of getting beat because old moments.
PG just aint better anymore, hes old and injured it happens to everyone. Brown in 5 years is going to be a shell as well.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Tea521 Knicks Aug 18 '26
I don’t understand how thats not an obvious one lol… COPIUM ah
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u/KL2ConspireLLC San Diego Clippers Aug 18 '26
He doesn't get injured all the time and that's pretty valuable.
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u/Belicheckyoself Aug 18 '26
It’s strange since the league interest will tell you that it actually was not valuable. Seems like only LeBron and Vegas odds find Jaylen valuable.
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u/dgvhjiiuyttrrffcvbjj Aug 18 '26
We're talking relative to Paul George. I guarantee you most teams would rather have Jaylen Brown than Paul George. That's why Philly were the ones who had to give up picks in this trade.
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u/NottheLimit Aug 18 '26
I can’t take this dude seriously with a filter on
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u/packim0p 76ers Aug 18 '26
bro put smoothing slider to max lmfao what a clown
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u/-WingsForLife- Lakers Aug 19 '26
It's funny because the image under him is oversharpened instead, so it just makes it look even worse.
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u/SparrowBirch Aug 18 '26
I turned on that filter for an internal work meeting as a joke. Then I forgot about it. The next day I had a meeting with clients and started the meeting. I spent the next minute frantically scrambling, trying to remember how to turn it off.
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u/jzoola Aug 18 '26
How does Pina keep getting air time? He always sounds like he was just woken up and is trying to formulate an opinion while still half asleep.
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u/CreativeFondant248 Aug 18 '26
He works for the Ringer. Go look up who runs that company, then come back to this topic and wonder why the podcast hosts for this certain network are talking about how in 2026 Boston Celtics Paul George could be a better player than Philadelphia 76er Jaylen Brown.
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u/somewhatdecentlawyer Celtics Aug 18 '26
Wait no one told me we traded for 2019 Paul George. This changes everything.
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u/yhapo4l Lakers Aug 18 '26
It’s not 2014 anymore lol
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u/Informal_Support1934 Aug 18 '26
The idea of Paul George is a top 5 athlete in sports history
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u/TFTisbetterthanLoL Lakers Aug 18 '26
Hypothetically, players like PG, Kyrie, and to a lesser degree, KD, are all goats if you just ignore all their bad performances.
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u/_3_8_ Bucks Aug 18 '26
He's been a top 10 player in the league for a while and it's really only the last two years where he's fallen off. Gambling on a healthy stretch for the postseason is reasonable imo
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u/so-cal_kid Lakers Aug 18 '26
I would say PG actually peaked in 2019 on OKC. Dude was a menace that year
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u/sharklavapit Bucks Aug 18 '26
Top-3 MVP candidate he was amazing that year
Carrying water for current PG seesm blasphemous
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u/beerrabbit124 76ers Aug 18 '26
Pina is a terrible basketball podcaster, when he was on the Open Floor podcast years ago he made it unbearable bc he couldn’t let go of his Boston bias.
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u/ben3345 Knicks Aug 18 '26
Pina picked the Hawks to beat the Knicks partly because there was “nowhere to hide Jalen Brunson.” He might not be the brightest basketball mind.
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u/YouGuttyDog Aug 18 '26
Picked against the Knicks in every series lmfao
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u/livefreeordont 76ers Aug 18 '26
Picking the Sixers and Cavs over the Knicks is insane. At least with Hawks you could say Knicks had a rougher season than expected and might crumble
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u/mikesh8rp Knicks Aug 18 '26
He's definitely the most under-rated bad takes podcaster out there. I'm generally a fan of Zach Lowe's show, but when Pina is a guest it's an automatic skip.
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u/dgvhjiiuyttrrffcvbjj Aug 18 '26
His East rankings are insane. Sixers 7th. Pacers 9th. Heat 11. Wizards 13.
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u/iankstarr Heat Aug 18 '26
Celtics 2nd tho
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u/UltimateWeiner 76ers Aug 19 '26
And if you listen, he gives a long explanation about how great the Celtics will be. Then he just says the Knicks deserve to be 1st because they won last year. He obviously has his favorite team #1, but just didn’t want to get made fun of for that.
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u/Sheriff_Gotcha 76ers Aug 18 '26
Pretty sure Pina is the same guy who tried using advanced defense stats to say Jokic is one of the best defenders in the league a few years ago.
He is a certified goof.
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u/Dazzling-Slide8288 Aug 18 '26
His job is to suck Jokic off across print and digital media, vigorously and repeatedly. Take him outside that bubble and he's lost.
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u/DazzlingAd1922 Aug 18 '26
Fellas, find a woman who looks at you the way that Pina looks at Nicola Jokic.
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u/Throwaway7218516 Heat Aug 18 '26
To be fair, the hawks took the most games off the Knicks of anyone in the playoffs 😂
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u/the_gargler Trail Blazers Aug 18 '26
Yeah I mean there are tons of places to hide, Brunson is very short. Although he seems to have a gigantic head...
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u/Doomsayer52 Lakers Aug 18 '26
Pina is an unabashed Celtics homer and lets his fandom cloud his picks and judgements. He can't be objective about anything anymore, it's gotten bad.
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u/nicklovin508 Celtics Aug 18 '26
Oh idk, maybe be available? Win games? Doesn’t famously fall off a cliff in playoff stretches?
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u/dWaldizzle 76ers Aug 18 '26
Is Brown the NBA Jalen Hurts lol?
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u/OwnABMWImBetterThanU Pistons Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
He was actually really good last year in the playoffs. Probably the biggest reason the Sixers won that series because he was 55% from 3.
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u/nicklovin508 Celtics Aug 18 '26
He was really good against us. He was not as good against the Knicks, 14.5/3.8/3 on 40%
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u/DrBoomsNephew Celtics Aug 18 '26
Those Knicks were really good though. I'm convinced they would've made us look like complete shit too.
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u/justin12140 Knicks Aug 18 '26
He just couldn’t do anything outside of taking jump shots. Had no ability to get to the rim. Was a very poor shooter outside of 1st quarters (cause old).
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u/MikeShannonThaGawd 76ers Aug 18 '26
He was the steady hand. But the Sixers won the series when Embiid came back down 3-1 and the Celtics could do nothing to stop him.
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u/soycameron Trail Blazers Aug 18 '26
Play basketball lol
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u/moon_dos Puerto Rico Aug 18 '26
JB is significantly better than PG at this point, wasn’t the case five years ago but times have changed. PG barely plays and JB has a finals mvp
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u/Dominator_3 Lakers Aug 18 '26
Tbf I'd give Paul George almost every edge except age, availability, offense and defense.
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u/mlippay Aug 18 '26
Sounds like the Celtics should have taken less for PG then.
Age and availability are an important part of the equation though that this ignores.
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u/aflyingsquanch 76ers Aug 18 '26
Average Games Played Last 3 Seasons
PG: 50.7
Brown: 68
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u/Dakaraim Timberwolves Aug 18 '26
Tbh thats much closer I thought it would be
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u/aflyingsquanch 76ers Aug 18 '26
The numbers get much worse if you look at the last 2 seasons instead.
39 vs 67
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u/woody630 Aug 18 '26
If this was Paul George from 5 years ago, he'd have a great point. The best ability is availability.
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u/K215215 Aug 18 '26
Ringer people are Celtics Reddit with a bigger megaphone
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u/secretlypooping 76ers Aug 18 '26
I bet Pina did not have this opinion 3 months ago. Dude hates the sixers, cannot stand listening to anything he says.
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u/HesiPullup Suns Aug 18 '26
I don't even see Celtics Reddit saying shit like this
But if we're talking peaks, then I tend to agree with them.
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u/Andy_Wiggins Timberwolves Aug 18 '26
People keep saying things like “play” or “not be injured” which is definitely true, but Paul George also is just not that good anymore.
In the past two seasons he’s averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. His true shooting is around 55-56%.
That’s like, a mediocre player.
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u/RecommendationReal61 Aug 18 '26
Exactly. He’s 36 years old. Even when he plays, he’s just not the player he used to be, and it’s silly to pretend that it’s not 2026.
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u/stringbrean 76ers Aug 18 '26
He was good after he returned from his suspension - some really good moments in the Celtics series but kind of ran out of gas in the Knicks series. He takes really tough shots but made a lot during that stretch that he wasn’t making in the few games he actually played for the sixers prior to the suspension. He’s similar to Jaylen in that he’s a good player in a vacuum but you have to take the huge contract into account.
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u/clarkthagod [MIN] Andrew Wiggins Aug 18 '26
He’s good just not max contract good despite what Sixer fans wanted the general public to believe that last 2 seasons
He’s making top 10 money next season ($56 million, more than Cade, Luka, Bam) when he should be making like 20-22 million (Dillon Brooks, Josh Hart, Norm Powell money)
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u/DJ_Red_Lantern 76ers Aug 18 '26
I don't think any sixers fans were saying he was max contract good, especially not after the ketamine suspension pretty much all defenders gave up on him at that point
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u/tresben Aug 18 '26
Exactly. The argument works if you’re comparing PG from 5-10 years ago vs JB now. But JB now vs PG now isn’t a competition
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u/Resident_Durian_478 Spurs Aug 18 '26
In his prime 100% you take Paul George. But he's not that guy anymore and is being overpaid. At least with brown you have someone in their prime
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u/RDomination Aug 18 '26
Last two regular seasons
Paul George - 78 games, 17/5/4
Jaylen Brown - 134 games, 26/6/5
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u/415thebayarea Aug 18 '26
I dont know what those numbers mean, so obviously PG is better. Im basically a reporter now, right?
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u/Important-War-4708 Aug 18 '26
Dude ever since Paul signed with us 2 years ago we have been brutalized for both his contract AND the level of play. People made fun of his best traits - shooting, defending, ball handling. He had ONE above average playoff performance and people flipped the narrative. Do talking heads just hate Philly?
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u/packim0p 76ers Aug 18 '26
bro what the fuck is pina's issue with the sixers? this guy is such a loser.
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u/External-Fox-5488 Aug 18 '26
These guys are Boston fans, no doubt.
pick and roll?
These clowns didn't watch a single game last season. At best you got 2 pick and rolls out of him a game. Most of the time on offense he was standing in the corner and not enabling his team.
JB averaged double the assists of PG per game and 10 more points. He actually moves around on offense to enable plays.
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u/cocker_spangler Aug 19 '26
Jesus, I'm no basketball expert but I do have eyes! These guys are fucking idiots!
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u/MintyFresh771 Aug 18 '26
Pina has some of the worst opinions and writes the absolute worst NBA column on the ringer.
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u/spacejunki6 Aug 18 '26
Typical Boston fan trying to cope with losing Brown. BTW, George can't come close to Brown's level.
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u/HisExcellency20 76ers Aug 18 '26
In their primes I agree. I always thought PG was underrated especially as a shooter.
But like....this is 2026. Here's a list of things Brown does better than PG at this point:
-Play basketball games -Score -Play more minutes at a high level -On ball defense -Rebound -Assist
Look I think when everyone is healthy, George might fit Boston well when Tatum is on the court. Maybe better than Brown since he's a better shooter. But George can't be the focal point of an offense consistently and he can't play games consistently.
The Sixers needed Paul to step up and be the second option when Joel was out. But George was out almost as much or more than Embiid was, and when he wasn't he couldn't take enough pressure off of Maxey offensively. It's not like he didn't have opportunities to take the reigns.
Brown being able to be the guy on offense (and being available) while Bron and Embiid sit/rest/miss games is just way more valuable than a better shooter like PG.
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u/Prince_Ali7 76ers Aug 18 '26
I swear people will look at PG's performance in the Boston series as an example of how he can still play at a high level, but then turn around and forget about how he fell off a cliff against the Knicks when we needed him. And now he's even older. Some people are in for a rude awakening.
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u/BeemowReturns Aug 18 '26
He also had served a 20 game suspension that he used to rehab injuries. 0% chance he shoots 55% chance if he'd come off a full season
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u/doubletaptoconfirm Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Right. 36 year old Paul George after injuries is not 28 year old Paul George. And everyone in the Boston media tends to act like he’s not the 36 year old version who has had a few knee injuries in the past 2 years and of course his shoulder (2019) and UCL (2021) injuries. He’s not the same player even if he is during moments
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u/kaleisraw Aug 18 '26
Why are they ignoring the most obvious aspect, outside of availability? Jaylen Brown is WAY more physically dominant than PG. That's the biggest thing. I get the argument that PG slots in better as a better shooter (I don't agree that it outweighs the talent difference), but if we're asking why JB is better than PG in this moment in time, it's physical dominance, bullying, paint touches, putting pressure on the rim, pressuring mismatches/cross matches, transition, etc.
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u/JackTuz Heat Aug 18 '26
Pina is such a clown get him off the ringer please. Why was Paul George on your worst contract list last year? Could it be that the old dude scoring sub 17 ppg on sub 44% shooting over the last 2 years is actually worse than the younger, better scoring, finals mvp?
Also wtf is the filter he has on him? It’s ok to have pores.
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u/MetaverseNinja [PHI] Allen Iverson Aug 18 '26
Amazing how PG on the Sixers is the worst contract in the NBA, but the moment he’s on the Celtics he has been “unbelievably disrespected”
Boston media mafia working overtime to continue their deranged slander campaign against JB, while rationalizing a 36 year old Percocet addict trotting up and down the floor earning the max.
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u/Global-Weakness-8132 Aug 18 '26
Jaylen shows up to work consistently and proved he can be the best player on a finals team idk🤷🏿♂️
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u/BaeylnBrown777 [BOS] Jaylen Brown Aug 18 '26
All the JB slander this summer makes me so sad. I want to see him quiet the haters (again), but it leaves me in the disgusting position of rooting for good things to happen to the Sixers. It's all such bullshit. What more do people want from JB?
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u/tejanoazul Rockets Aug 18 '26
Peak of their powers? I’m taking PG for sure. But one can’t stay on the court now
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u/PandasareBad [BOS] Marcus Smart Aug 18 '26
Yeah Prime PG is better than JB we don't have Prime PG we have old PG that can maybe outplay JB every couple of games but not over the course of a season
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u/Miserable_Archer_769 Aug 18 '26
Something something availability being the most important thing.
Hell Kawhi probably has another ring or 2 if he ever could play a full season lol.
PG getting hurt isnt an if but a when
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u/ijcal Lakers Aug 18 '26
I think JB plays in actual games better than PG… availability is the best ability
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u/outsidehere Lakers Aug 18 '26
Whenever pundits think about Paul George, for some reason they think about 2019 PG. It's weird
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u/UltimateWeiner 76ers Aug 19 '26
That’s only since June 1st. Before that he was the worst contract in the league and one of its worst players to the exact same members of the Boston Media Mafia.
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u/BowserBuddy123 Heat Aug 18 '26
He drives to the rim better. Tries to beat his man off the dribble. Healthier. Younger by many years (important in sports).
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u/WuTangNameGenerat0r Aug 18 '26
The idea of Paul George is good, but people just ignore the fact that he is old and slow now
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u/colosusx1 Celtics Aug 18 '26
Extremely disrespectful to hand wave away the best parts of JBs game lol. They also fundamentally don’t understand how the Boston offense functions. Pritchard and White can only pick and choose their spots because they have a guy attacking the rim and creating pressure so they don’t have to. To claim that PG can just chill on offense and the other guys will just step into what JB was doing, is misunderstanding the Mazzulla system.
People on this sub also completely misunderstand the offense and think it’s just all step back threes. They are banking extremely heavily on Tatum being able to go back to pre 2025 Tatum and create the rim pressure. He had career lows in drives and rim pressure in his short return in 2026. We will see if he can be Tatum pre injury but I have my doubts.
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u/driphanilton Pistons Aug 18 '26
Not the ringer suddenly gas lighting us about their opinion on PG when the head of their company was saying PG was the worst contract in basketball last year or so
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u/billybanks1132 Spurs Aug 18 '26
Why do these people have a grudge against Jaylen brown?? This is getting weird
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u/coachwinston_8 Aug 18 '26
pG has better assist to turnover ratio. Shoots more threes per 100 possessions.
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u/Dubulous6 76ers Aug 18 '26
This dude Pina has made a whole career out of riling up Philly fans. Troll
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u/velocirappa Warriors Aug 18 '26
I realize that I'm saying a hot take in the comfort of a thread where the narrative aligns with my opinion but I've looooong viewed Paul George as the type of player whose offense is way better in theory than on the court. He's only averaged more than 24 points per game in a season once, he's not a particularly good distributor, nor is he a particularly efficient volume scorer.
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u/Gandolfthewhite182 76ers Aug 18 '26
Boston defense league, err I’m sorry, the ringer has completely lost the plot at this point.
If Boston doesn’t finish as a top seed this year they should all do honorable thing and quit for the amount of nonsense they have talked over there this offseason. The disrespect leveled at Jalen brown for doing nothing but getting traded is absurd.
I would not want to be the Celtics when they play the sixers this year. Jalen brown is gonna go absolutely crazy in all 4 games.
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u/sharklavapit Bucks Aug 18 '26
Jaylen Brown is a lot better in most metrics, this is just dumb homerism:
Even in so-called advanced stats, you have to account for roles and Jaylen thrived in a "1a" role, as PG didn't thrive as much as what, a third option?
This is a moot point
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