When the topic of Jaylen Brown came up at Summer League with anyone (tied to the Celtics or not), the response was the same: Brown will sign a super max extension — five years, $295 million — and the sides are just haggling over the details. It’s just taking a little time, but nothing else is happening here.
Now it will take a little longer, reports Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.
According to a league source, Jaylen Brown is headed overseas for an NBPA event and contract negotiations with the Celtics are expected to pause while he’s gone. Both sides remain confident that a deal will be struck, but there will be a delay.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) July 14, 2023
More: https://t.co/YYshy7Jb6j
The debate is over the details, such as if Brown gets a player option in the fifth year (Jayson Tatum did) or, potentially more interestingly, a trade kicker. However, arguing over the minutiae of a deal does not change the foundational reasons this deal is going to get done: The Celtics are contenders with Brown and offered him far more than any other team could, and he is not going to walk away from nearly a third of a billion dollars.
Boston’s front office pushed all its chips into the middle of the table this season with moves that sent out Marcus Smart and Grant Williams and brought in Kristaps Porzingis. It’s a move that looks good on paper if Porzingis can stay healthy and play like he did last season, but it changes the team’s core identity. If it’s going to work, Brown and Tatum have to step up as the leaders, not just with their play but with better focus and playoff energy than this team has shown the past couple of years — being elite when your back is against the wall is not enough.
Brown isn’t going anywhere, the deal will be reached. Will he be a Celtic when that contract ends... the crystal ball is a bit fuzzy on that question, ask again later.
