A pair of NBA announcements Wednesday might play a huge hand in dictating the makeup of the Celtics’ core moving forward.
Jayson Tatum was named to the All-NBA First Team for the second straight season, while Jaylen Brown was honored one rung below on the Second Team. By earning one of the 15 All-NBA slots this season, Tatum and Brown both are eligible to sign a supermax contract extension with Boston in the near future. Had the star tandem not earned those coveted awards, the Celtics would have been forced to bring significantly less money to the negotiating table.
Although Tatum and Brown ultimately have the final say about their respective futures in Boston, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst expects both players to be with the Celtics for the long haul.
“Yeah, how would you feel about a $600 million press release? That’s what happened when the NBA put out the All-NBA teams yesterday,” the NBA insider said Thursday on “Get Up.” “Jaylen Brown qualifies to sign this summer, Jayson Tatum qualifies to sign next summer. This is huge for the Celtics because I’m not sure Jaylen Brown would have agreed to an extension just ’cause of the rules that were limiting him. Now, I don’t see how the Celtics don’t offer this, and frankly, I don’t see how Jaylen Brown doesn’t sign it. There could be some negotiation a little bit on maybe the option year or something like that. There might be a little bit of drama, but I think Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are gonna be locked down for the foreseeable future. That pairing is going to last.”
Although the cash figures that come with those supermax extensions are eye-popping, next contracts probably aren’t top of mind for Tatum nor Brown at this juncture. The All-Stars will need to be at their best Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center if the Celtics want to keep their NBA championship dreams alive.
