Boston Celtics summer decisions: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s extensions loom large

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/09/boston-celtics-summer-decisions-jayson-tatum-and-jaylen-browns-extensions-loom-large.html



Boston Celtics summer decisions: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s extensions loom large




Updated 10:24 AM;
Today 10:24 AM




Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown
AP





shares
By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com and John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com




The Boston Celtics are almost back to training camp, but before the regular season starts, they have several interesting decisions to make. MassLive’s Celtics beat writers will outline a few of them in our last summer series: Celtics summer decisions. Next up: What should the Celtics do about pending extensions for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum?


JOHN KARALIS


There’s a price to pay when drafting young talent, and it usually comes three seasons after they’re drafted.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were both drafted third in consecutive years, which means Danny Ainge has a couple of big decisions to make over the next 400 days or so. However, both of them might be made around the same time.

Brown is extension-eligible right now, but Danny Ainge probably isn’t keen on committing $170 million to Jaylen Brown over the next five years at the moment. Brown has had a nice beginning to his career and he’s got a lot of promise as a contributor on a winning team, but he hasn’t earned that kind of commitment quite yet.

That’s not to say Brown hasn’t earned a lot of money, especially in today’s NBA. We live in a world where Terry Rozier is making $19.8 million, so Brown can demand a nice payday.

Brown probably wants more than a “nice payday,” though. He probably wants some of that Jamal Murray money, which is that same $170 million.

So in one corner, you have a guy trying to prove he’s worth that money, and in the other you have a franchise waiting for him to do just that before making that kind of commitment. That means both sides will touch gloves this October and see where things land in July.


It’s a lower risk for Ainge because if Brown earns himself a monster contract, then that means he’s really good and he probably deserves the money. Because Brown is going to be a restricted free agent, Ainge can always match offers from other teams. Really, the only way Brown leaves Boston is if Ainge decides to let him go (which he might. More on this in a minute).

Tatum, like Brown, is essentially playing for a contract this season too. Tatum can get his extension next summer, and if he takes a significant leap this season, there will be significantly less gamesmanship from Boston’s front office. If Tatum can apply some of the positive things we saw during the FIBA World Cup, then there’s a strong chance he proves to be a cornerstone piece of this franchise. At that point, a max contract offer would be a given.

If he doesn’t, then Tatum might find himself in a “prove it” year next season much like Brown is right now. He would have to really stagnate, though, to be in that position. Even if he doesn’t make a full leap like some would hope, he can show enough promise to warrant a max commitment.

There is an interesting possible side effect to both Brown and Tatum earning big money. It’s possible that Brown proving himself could be a ticket out of Boston. The Celtics have to spend their money wisely, and if a team is willing to throw $29 million at Brown in the first year of a max contract, Ainge could find himself matching and ultimately paying Kemba Walker, Brown, and Tatum about $100 million combined two seasons from now.


That’s a financial commitment normally reserved for a “Big 3” ready to challenge for a title. Unless Brown can rise to the level of a “Big 3”-type player, Ainge could decide to either trade him during the season, work out a sign-and-trade next summer, or just let him walk.

That’s the thing about today’s NBA. Young players like Brown are paid on their promise, and how much promise they have is somewhat subjective. Ainge’s best case scenario is that Brown plays well, but not well enough to earn a max-level contract. At that point he can keep Brown around at a more reasonable price, maybe on a shorter-term deal, to be a key player on a contending team.

However it goes, it’s pretty clear that neither side will be interested in finalizing a deal in October. The decisions on both Brown and Tatum might be happening within weeks of one another next summer.


TOM WESTERHOLM

Disagreements (hopefully) make this Summer Decision series interesting, and unlike the starting center situation (T I M E L O R D), I have no major disagreements with John here. A few notes I will add:


- Trading Brown is somewhat unlikely (would you feel comfortable dealing a soon-to-be 23-year-old wing with great athleticism who once averaged 18 points per game in an important playoff run?), but it does make an uncomfortable amount of sense. Trading Brown would consolidate some of the guard/wing depth and could help Boston’s roster make more positional sense. Could the Celtics pry Myles Turner out of Indiana? Probably not, but could Brown and the Memphis pick get it done? Are the Celtics still as high on Mo Bamba as they were entering the 2018 draft? There would be plenty of options, and a lineup of Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Gordon Hayward, Tatum and (Center X) would look pretty dangerous.

- Nobody is really talking about this because we didn’t see him play at Summer League, but while Romeo Langford is a different player -- he’s not as good a shooter or as athletic, but he’s a much better ball-handler, finisher and distributor -- he does make some sense as a Brown replacement.

- You could see in Tatum’s play at the World Cup that he has been working on the things that will help him take the steps necessary to get a max offer next summer -- operating out of the pick-and-roll, getting to the rim (instead of inefficient pull-ups) and getting to the free-throw line. If he shows improvements in those areas, he’s a no-brainer, especially if his 3-point shot hovers around 40 percent this season.

- The Celtics rarely give out max extensions before they are required to do so, but building a little good will with Brown and Tatum (assuming they want to keep one or both) might not be the worst idea after last year’s debacle, and especially after all of the Anthony Davis rumors.



bob


.