BOSTON — Well, Jaylen Brown is here to stay. After weeks of negotiations, the Boston Celtics and Brown reached an agreement on Tuesday afternoon, inking the forward to a five-year $304 million deal.
After being selected with the third pick in the 2016 draft, Brown has continued to improve each season. From averaging six points his rookie season to coming off an All-NBA campaign where he averaged 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, he’s helped charge postseason runs for years.
The fanbase was split between trading the all-star guard and giving him the supermax – one he earned by being named to one of the three All-NBA teams.
With Brown signing, the Celtics now have some clarity.
As a supermax player, Brown will eat up 35 percent of the Celtics’ salary cap once his contract kicks in during the 2024-25 season.
The Celtics got what they wanted in making sure Brown signed for the full five years rather than signing for four years with a player-option for the fifth. The guaranteed fifth year gives the Celtics the option to trade Brown in a few years if they need to. On the flip side, Brown got what he wanted, being paid $304 million and having a trade kicker in the deal.
Now, with Brown being the highest-paid NBA player in history, the Celtics have locked down their big three in Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis.
Not bad, Cs.
Behind Tatum, Brown, and Porzingis, Boston’s offense got significantly better – and taller. With Marcus Smart being traded for Porzingis, Derrick White will be the Celtics’ starting point guard next season. Although Smart is a better defender, White is a better scorer which he showed flashes of during the playoffs. White is another player who will bolster the Celtics offense.
With a starting lineup of White, Brown, Tatum, Porzinigs, and Al Horford, the Celtics will be one of the better offensive teams in the league – at least, we hope.
The question for the Celtics will be on the defensive end as they lost two defensive anchors in Smart and Grant Williams. However, the Celtics got longer with Porzingis.
White will be the shortest starter for the Celtics at 6-foot-4. Joe Mazzula will hope his elite offense and length on defense will help overcome any defensive frailties the team might suffer after the departures of Smart and Williams.
In the playoffs, teams showed the Celtics needed another scoring option when Tatum either went out injured, or when he was having an off night. When Tatum got hurt, the Heat focused their defense on Brown, knowing Tatum wasn’t healthy enough to win the game on his own.
Now with Porzingis, if an incident occurs where one of Tatum or Brown gets hurt, Porzingis can step up into the number two role or be the primary scorer on a given night.
With Brown’s new contract, fans are itching for Brown to improve not just as a shooter, but with his ball-handling and decision-making. The Celtics bowed out of game seven last year behind Brown’s eight turnovers.
Brown is a top-15 player in the NBA, and having him locked down for the next five years is great for the Celtics, who will look at this new big three as the key to Banner 18.
Yeah, I like the move.
