The Boston Celtics are all-in on Jaylen Brown, but the underhanded free-throw guy still needs some convincing.

 

 

 

 

Speaking this week in an interview with NBA host Joy De’Angela, retired Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry said that he does not believe Brown is

worth his gigantic new extension with the Celtics. Boston gave Brown a five-year, $304 million supermax earlier this offseason, the richest contract in

league history.

“That’s just hard for me to believe,” said Barry of the Brown supermax. “You know, his average in the playoffs for them is 18.5 points a game. 18.5

points a game and he’s gonna make $69 million in the last year of his contract. 18.5 points a game, that’s nothing.

“To pay somebody that kind of money — and he’s a nice player, I really like him — but man, he’s gotta improve his game,” Barry added. “[Brown]

turns the ball over too much, he tries to force things. So [does] his teammate [Jayson] Tatum. That’s one of the reasons they lost to the Warriors [in

the NBA Finals] two seasons ago. They make too many turnovers.”

 

For a guy like Barry, an eight-time All-Star and NBA champion who retired more than four decades ago, the salaries thrown around these days have

to be shocking. He is spot-on, too, about the noticeable flaws in Brown’s game, many of which became evident when Tatum was injured early in

Game 7 of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics were sandblasted by the Miami Heat with Brown as the No. 1 option.

 

But on the other hand, contracts like Brown’s are about to become the norm in the NBA, especially as basketball-related income (which has a direct

effect on the league’s salary cap) continues to increase. An expected bump to the NBA’s $2.6 billion per-year TV deal (which expires in 2025) could

send player salary figures rocketing to the moon even more.

 

Brown, a homegrown player who was drafted by the Celtics in 2016, was only eligible to get a supermax from Boston. With the Celtics – who can go

over the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents – not having a realistic pathway to replicating Brown’s production if he were to leave, the two-time

All-Star ultimately ended up with the contract that he signed. But that won’t stop Barry, who is very outspoken about the state of the NBA these days,

from voicing his opinion that Brown is overpaid.

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Milwaukee Bucks: Former Boston Celtics Forward Says Khris Middleton Is on the Same Level As Jimmy Butler

Milwaukee Bucks three-time All-Star Khris Middleton may be one of the most underrated players in the NBA, even by his own fanbase. For much of

this offseason, many NBA fans, including Bucks fans, suggested scenarios in which Middleton was traded for other super star players such as James

Harden and Damian Lillard. However, none of the people making these proposals considered Middleton to be on the same level as the players.

How ironic it was/is that these trade scenarios exist even though Middleton is not considered by many to be a legitimate star in the NBA. That being

said, Evan Turner, the former Boston Celtics forward, believes that Middleton and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler are on the same level.

Evan Turner Claims that Milwaukee Bucks Forward Khris Middleton and Miami Heat Star Jimmy Butler Are on the Same Level

As many debates tend to begin these days, especially in the NBA offseason, the entire debate started over a Twitter thread debating NBA 2k ratings.

Turner originally posted that he believed a 95 rating for Butler in the popular video game was too high.

After several people commented defense of Butler’s high rating, Turner responded:

“People would flip their lids if I tried to start a Khris Middleton or Jimmy Butler debate Cause that’s a true debate, respectfully for all

parties involved.”

As one may expect, the the majority of the comments following this claim do not agree with it. After all, Butler is a six-time All-Star while Middleton

has made three All-Star teams.

That being said, there is a great deal of things that Middleton has accomplished that are comparable to Butler’s accomplishments.

1. Both Khris Middleton and Jimmy Butler Lifted Their Teams to the NBA Finals

 

 

 

Everyone remembers Giannis Antetokounmpo hyperextending his knee in the Eastern Conference Finals, and coming back in the NBA Finals to lead

Milwaukee to its first championship in 50 years.

However, not everyone chooses to remember that Middleton closed out the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals to get the Bucks to the

Championship while Giannis was out.

After Game Four, the game in which Giannis got hurt, Middleton dropped 26 and 32 points in Games Five and Six to lead Milwaukee over Atlanta. In

the Finals, Middleton averaged 24.0 points per game, highlighted by a 40-point performance in Game Four.

Butler, of course, went on an impressive tear in the 2023 NBA Playoffs that included an upset of the number-one seeded Bucks. He led the Heat

through the East all the way to the Finals where they eventually fell to the Denver Nuggets.

Khris Middleton Averages More Points Per 36 Minutes Over the Past 5 Seasons Than Jimmy Butler

Over the last five seasons, Middleton and Butler have actually been very comparable scorers in the NBA regular season. Just take a look at their Per

36 Minutes stats since the 2018-19 season:

• Middleton: 22.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists
• Butler: 22.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists

Of course, stats don’t tell the whole story. Butler is a fantastic player who had a postseason run that few will ever be able to match. However, in the

regular season, the debate of Middleton versus Butler is more of a legitimate conversation than people think. Their per 36 numbers are nearly

identical, after all.