Pacers: Ranking Domantas Sabonis among other 2019 rookie extensions
By Josh Wilson
Jaylen Brown’s extension comes in front of an impending Tatum extension
Four years, $103,000,000 (25,750,000 per year)
The Boston Celtics normally don’t extend players like Jaylen Brown. And with hefty amounts of money going to Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward if he opts into the final year of his contract next year, how the Celtics decide to build their team is starting to look a bit precarious.
Brown has had a good season, but Jayson Tatum has looked like a future MVP at times this season. The Celtics have to extend him this summer, that’s a no brainer, but they’ve already agreed to pay Brown $25 million per year.
Brown is a good player, his PER of 17.1 is fifth among rookie scale extensions and he’s extremely intelligent. Any team vying for a playoff push would love to have a player like him on the wing.
Averaging 20.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on an all-around skilled Celtics team isn’t easy. He’s found a way to make impact on the fringes and is one of the reasons the team is exceeding expectations this year.
Given the sheer dominance of Tatum this year and the impending money going his way, things are starting to look dicey for the Celtics, and keeping some money free might have been the better option. Thankfully, next year is the last year they’ll have Hayward on the books which will free up nearly $35 million.
Boston will need it.