NBA Rumors: Front office execs cannot believe the Celtics gave Jaylen Brown a $304 million contract
On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics signed star wing Jaylen Brown to a massive five-year, $304 million supermax contract extension. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Brown’s new deal marks the richest contract in NBA history.
Upon the news of his extension, many were perplexed by how much money the Celtics are committing to the star wing. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, this includes some rival front-office executives.
During a recent episode of his podcast 'The Lowe Post', Lowe first spoke about how Brown’s contract is unlikely to age well unless he expands his game:
“Will it be a good contract? A plus-value contract? Probably not.”
“Jaylen Brown is gonna have to grow as a playmaker, particularly as a playmaker. All the jokes about his dribbling aside, it's his dribbling and his passing and his assist to turnover ratio-which often veers into negative territory.
"But I actually think in some corners of the league, particularly the analytics corner, he’s become a little bit underrated.”
Lowe added that some rival executives who are questioning Brown’s extension even view the star wing as Boston’s third, fourth or fifth-best player:
“I’ve had a couple of people in opposing front offices tell me something along the lines of, ‘Are the Celtics really gonna pay their third or fourth or fifth best player all this money?’”
Some front office members around the league believe Jaylen Brown is the ‘3rd or 4th or 5th’ best player on the Celtics
“I’ve had a couple people in opposing front offices tell me something along the lines of ‘Are the Celtics really gonna pay their 3rd or 4th or 5th best player… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/wJKIbIo4Qi
Outside of superstar forward Jayson Tatum, Brown is widely regarded as the Celtics’ second-best player. So, most would agree that, if true, the comments from the anonymous executives are a bit of an exaggeration.
Nonetheless, Brown’s deal could alter the NBA’s entire contract landscape moving forward as teams could be forced to offer similar deals to retain their stars.
Also read: What is trade kicker in the NBA? Looking at recent supermax contract that includes this bonus clause
How did Jaylen Brown fare last season?
Since Jaylen Brown was drafted No. 3 by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA Draft, he has gone from a raw offensive player to a legitimate star. Brown has increased his offensive output in nearly every season. The star wing averaged just 6.6 points per game during his rookie year in the 2016-17 NBA season.
Last season, he averaged a career-best 26.6 PPG to go along with 6.9 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.1 SPG and 2.4 3-pointers per game on 49.1% shooting. His impressive all-around play earned him his first selection to an All-NBA team (Second Team) as well as his second All-Star selection.
As Lowe noted, there are still some questions surrounding Brown’s dribbling and playmaking. However, Brown is still just 26 years old and entering his prime. So, the Celtics star still has lots of time to improve his game and live up to his new contract.
Also read: Brandon Jennings believes Jaylen Brown got his $304,000,000 and will now force move to Houston Rockets