Jaylen Brown’s contract extension negotiations have gone on much longer than expected. The Celtics inability to win a title over the past few seasons have raised concerns over inconsistency amongst key players. It is clear that the Celtics are seeking new options going forward in the pursuit of winning an NBA championship.
Brown has been eligible to sign a five year supermax deal worth an estimated $300 million dollars since July 1st. The contract is currently on pause due to Brown being overseas in Marbella, Spain for an NBA Player’s Association Performance Summit. The pause is not abnormal, but appears questionable based upon his recent stance within the Celtics organization.
A long term deal doesn’t necessarily guarantee that Brown will be in Boston for the next five years. When asked if the Celtics don’t win a title if there’s a chance Jaylen Brown will stay in Boston for the next five years, Gary Tanguay responded on the Bob Ryan and Jeff Goodman NBA Podcast on CLNS Media bluntly:
“No chance.”
One option Jeff Goodman suggests is to trade Jaylen Brown to Philly to Philly for recent league MVP, Joel Embiid
Brad Stevens has already proved this offseason that by trading Marcus Smart, “that he can be cold and heartless and all about business,” said Gary Tanguay.
While Bob Ryan wasn’t as suspicious of Brown’s delayed contract extension, he does believe it speaks volumes about Brown’s position in Boston.
“[Brown’s] never expressed complete fidelity to the city, said Ryan.” “There’s this lingering issue of how good he thinks he is and whether he should be regarded as the equal of Tatum… There’s all this speculation because he only leaves you wondering.”
Amidst all of the rumors about whether or not Brown wants to be on the Celtics or “have his own show” elsewhere, Ryan thinks the Celtics will still get the supermax deal done. The reality is that Brown has to be paid the supermax contract because he made second team All NBA, is “a stupid reason,” Ryan debates.
Goodman argued that Brad Stevens intelligence during free agency could also be the reason why there is no rush to get a deal done.
“Who knows what the asking price is gonna be for Damien Lillard in a week or two weeks,” said Goodman. “Let me slow play this a little bit and who knows, maybe the asking price comes down enough.”
"Unless [#Celtics] win a title, do we really think there's any chance Jaylen Brown is here for five 5 years after this year?
"No chance. 0"
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— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) July 20, 2023
The likelihood of Jaylen playing in Boston for five more years if they don’t win a title is highly unlikely, according to Goodman and Tanguay. Joe Mazzulla might have been the bad guy when it came to playoff loses this year, but that script could flip on Tatum and Brown next season if nothing changes.
“I just have a feeling that the player doesn’t really wanna be here in Brown and the Celtics don’t want him at that money and that’s just what I keep coming back to now,” says Tanguay.
If Brown does end up signing the supermax extension with the Celtics, Gary Tanguay argues that it is “almost like a forced marriage.” The truth of whether or not Jaylen Brown wants to be in Boston and how badly or not the Celtics want to resign him could be revealed in how soon and if this deal even gets done.
