Two weeks into NBA free agency, the Celtics and Jaylen Brown are yet to agree to terms on an extension.
The All-NBA wing is eligible for a five-year, $295 million veteran supermax extension.
And while no other team can pay the Georgia native more than 30 percent of the league’s salary cap,
even if Brown’s
traded, Boston isn’t hesitant to offer the full 35 percent he’s eligible for.
Still, details have to get ironed out. There are simple matters, like whether the annual eight percent
change in salary will ascend or descend. And more critical elements of the deal, including whether the
two-time All-Star’s contract will feature a trade kicker.
As a seven-year veteran, Brown’s one season shy of qualifying for a no-trade clause. But the kicker’s a
way for him to get up to 15 percent of his salary in bonus money if he’s dealt.
Considering he and Jayson Tatum, who’s eligible for a projected five-year, $318 million extension next
summer, will be on the Celtics’ books for roughly 70 percent of the team’s cap space in two years if
they’re both still in Boston, and that Brown could later decide he wants out, it matters whether there’s a
trade kicker in his contract.
The same goes for whether there’s a player option for the last year of the deal.
The hope was this would get ironed out while the two met face-to-face in Las Vegas, but that hasn’t
happened. And now, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, Brown is about to travel
overseas for a National Basketball Players Association event, and the expectation is contract negotiations
with the Celtics get put on pause while he’s away.
Himmelsbach adds that both sides remain confident a deal gets done. That still appears to be the most
likely outcome, rather than wanting that message out there as an attempt to keep the masses calm.
Still, players from the former third overall pick’s draft class, like Domantas Sabonis and Dejounte
Murray, have signed lucrative extensions this summer. So have younger players, including Anthony
Edwards and LaMelo Ball.
Like those deals, this one’s likely to get across the finish line, keeping Brown in Boston for at least one
more season. But for now, everyone will have to remain patient.
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