Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown will get a reprieve from being in trade rumors for at least a little bit after signing his
supermax contract extension.
But even though the Celtics can’t trade Brown for one year from the day he inked his new deal, FS1’s Nick Wright believes
once that time is up, he will find himself in a familiar situation.
“For one year his name won’t be in trade talks because they’re not allowed to trade him for 12 months,” Wright said on “First
Things First” on Tuesday. “And then, if the Celtics don’t win the title this year, do any of us think he’s not showing up in
trade talks 12 months from today? I do.”
Brown is coming off the best season of his career, in which he netted 26.6 points per game while shooting 49.1% from the
floor. But Wright sees Brown is the second tier of the NBA elites along with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal,
Zach LaVine, Bam Adebayo and Jrue Holiday, and thus not worthy of such a hefty financial investment.
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“Jaylen Brown is going to take up about 30 to 35% of your cap over the life of this deal,” Wright said. “That’s what matters
here, percent of cap, not raw dollars. I don’t think he’s quite good enough for that to work. I just don’t. … We all agree that
Jaylen Brown is a really good player, but we all agree he’s not a top 10 player. I would guess he’ll never be a top 10 player. “
Brown could really cement his future in Boston if he and Tatum can lift the Celtics to an NBA title after knocking on the door
the past two seasons. But Wright doesn’t see that coming to fruition, leading to Brown being back in trade rumors before his
supermax contract even kicks in.
“I don’t think this Celtics team is going to win the title,” Wright said. “It would have been insane for them to be like, ‘We’re
not offering you a contract.’ But I just don’t think he’s a long-term Celtic because I don’t think they’re going to win the title
this year and I think then he shows right back up in trade rumors.”
READ MORE:
Jaylen Brown, Celtics agreement is biggest in NBA history
The Boston Celtics have answered their most pressing question of the offseason. Jaylen Brown will be part of the franchise
for the foreseeable future.
The Celtics’ wing has agreed to terms on a five-year supermax contract extension that will pay him up to $304 million, his
agent said Tuesday.
It’s the richest contract in NBA history, surpassing the $264 million deal signed by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic last summer.
The deal was first reported by ESPN and confirmed to The Associated Press by Brown’s agent, Jason Glushon.
He averaged career highs of 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season. But those numbers went down in the
playoffs, when the Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. In Game 7, Brown had 19 points on 8-of-
23 shooting, making just one of nine 3-point attempts.
Still, the totality of his time in Boston has made him a key piece of the franchise’s current core that management wasn’t
willing to risk seeing depart when his current four-year deal expires after next season.
By virtue of making the All-NBA second team — Brown’s first such honor in his career — he was eligible for the supermax
extension.
From the moment this past season ended, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been adamant that he
wanted to see Brown sign a long-term deal.
“He’s a big part of us. We believe in him and I’m thankful for him,” Stevens said last month. “I’m really thankful that when
those guys have success they come back to work. And when they get beat, they own it and they come back to work. And so I
know that’s what they’re about. And that’s hard to find.”
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Jaylen Brown Hoping to Develop ‘Black Wall Street’ in Boston After Signing Nearly $304 Million Extension
The two-time NBA All-Star said he wants to use his platform to inspire Boston’s Black community
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On the heels of signing his massive new contract, NBA star Jaylen Brown says he’s hoping to use his platform to spread the
wealth.
At a press conference on Wednesday after the guard signed a NBA record five-year, $303.7 million supermax contract
extension with the Boston Celtics, Brown reportedly said that his aim is to use the “generational wealth” for good.
“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in Boston,” Brown, 26, said, according to CNN and ESPN. “I want
to attack the wealth disparity here. I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be
something that could be better meant for the entire economy.”
He added, “With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about one year investment in community,
but . . . the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about is top five in the US (and) is something that we can all
improve on it. It’s unsettling.”
According to the outlets, Brown said he hopes that his version of a “Black Wall Street” would “create new jobs, new
resources, new businesses, new ideas” for the Northeast U.S. corridor, much like the original Black Wall Street did in the
early 20th century for affluent Black residents in Tulsa, Okla.
“Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub,” he said. “I think Boston could be the pilot, not just for wealth
disparity here in the US, but also for around the world.”
It’s not the first time that the two-time NBA All Star has opened up about helping the Black community.
In 2020, Brown spoke to PEOPLE about his participation in an initiative sponsored by Dove Men+Care called Commit to
C.A.R.E. (Care About Racial Equity) Now. Brown teamed up with fellow NBA players Chris Paul, Donovan Mitchell, Aaron
Gordon and Danny Green on the project.
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As an extension of their work to raise awareness around systemic racism following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna
Taylor, the initiative aimed to change the stereotypes often associated with Black men.
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“How Black men are looked at and represented in culture is important,” Brown told PEOPLE at the time. “To try to change
some of those narratives in media is a great effort.”
He added, “It’s important to get more positive roles [in movies and television] and things like that, and create a demand for
people to see that, so they can see Black men and women in a positive light,” he continues. “Those roles were far and few
between, and while I think there’s more now than before, you wouldn’t see a lot of African-American movies or TV shows
that were successful — there just weren’t positive narrative [stories] for African-Americans.”
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