CAMBRIDGE -- Jaylen Brown officially signed his five-year supermax contract extension Wednesday afternoon at the MIT Media Lab in front of campers in his summer Bridge program. The program introduces minority students to STEAM-related opportunities and provides resources on emotional and financial literacy and leadership.
The deal is worth an estimated $304 million dollars, though that number is flexible based on what the 2024-25 salary cap number is. He will receive 35% of that final number as the opening salary, and then 8% raises after that. The contract is fully guaranteed, without incentives, and does not include a player option. It does include a trade kicker, which could increase his salary if he’s traded, but can also be negotiated out at the time of any potential trade.
Brown’s mother and grandfather were also in attendance.
Here are the big takeaways from the announcement:
- He says he’s ready for the pressure that comes with the contract.
“I think I look at life as stages and degrees. And everything that I kind of went through throughout my career has kind of prepared me for each stage. So I think all of the life circumstances, the experiences I've had through this organization, experiences I've had in the community, have all prepared me greatly to be in this spot. I don't shy away from pressure. I know what the demand is. I know what the expectation level is. I know the work that is required. Everything about me is about work. So I look at it as another challenge to get better, another challenge to improve. I don't think nobody has seen my best yet. So God willing I'll be able to put my best foot forward and do what I do best.”
Karalis’ take: My number one concern with this deal is that the noise will get too loud for Brown if he struggles out of the gate. This is a big number, and that's going to put the spotlight squarely on Brown. Every time he turns the ball over or misses a free throw, someone will have a comment about that. He’ll be heavily featured in sports talk radio and podcast segments criticizing him if he underperforms the deal.
But here’s the thing: He’s going to underperform the deal because he’s not prime LeBron James or Kevin Durant. He’s still Jaylen Brown, and aside from being fortunate to qualify for a supermax deal at an opportune time, he’s basically the same player with, we all hope, improvements from a summer of working on his flaws.
He’s not going to spend this summer becoming an MVP. And we all know he’s making more than actual MVPs. This is how the NBA system works. Comparing Brown to, say, Giannis Antetokounmpo because Brown makes more money misses the point entirely. Brown got 35% of the salary cap, just like every other supermax deal. He just benefits from good timing that his 35% is part of a financial boom.
So yes, he’s overpaid for whatever basketball production he gives. By the end of the deal, many better players will make more than him, and by a good amount. Welcome to the NBA’s financial boom. Players are getting mega-rich. It doesn’t mean we need to compare Brown to Larry Bird or Michael Jordan.
- Brown thinks this is a championship team, even with the changes.
“I’m excited to get started with the journey as well. I think what Kristaps (Porzingis) can bring to us defensively and the additions some of our other guys can bring to us defensively, I want to make sure that’s where we hang our hats this year and that starts with me, that starts with Jayson (Tatum), that starts with guys, (Robert Williams). With Marcus (Smart) gone, we don’t want our defensive identity to go out the door as well, so we have to really emphasize that at the start of training camp.”
"... My brother and my teammate and one of my best friends is not on the team anymore. Everybody knows it. I learned so much from Marcus. Marcus has been somebody that’s, like, we butted heads at times, we fought, we did it all, we put each other in headlocks, etc. The journey won’t feel the same without him to be honest. But it’s a part of life, it’s a part of what you do going forward and everything he’s instilled into this organization, everything he’s instilled into this community is still going to be with us, still carried with us. So we’re going to wish him well on his new journey. Obviously the city of Boston is going to feel the loss of his impact when he’s no longer here but we’ll be able to keep moving forward.”
Karalis’ take: I’m very curious to see what the Celtics' true identity will be this year. The players continue to say they* want to focus on**premium*** the defense while Joe Mazzulla has been focused on the offensive end.
Who will they really be when push comes to shove?
“This team and organization has always been built on defense and so a few years ago when we played double big there was a bunch of maintaining and a physical way to play,” Mazzulla said after the event. “And when Ime (Udoka) came and last year we were able to do some switching and so I think we have an opportunity to kind of blend both of them to where we do maintain our system and do some of the things we did well for the majority of the season and then just kind of reinvent and find small ways that adhere to our roster. We’ll be playing more double big, probably, so with that we can do some different stuff.”
It’ll be interesting to see what Mazzulla has planned.
This is my chance to push, again, for more zone defense. It’ll work, Joe! It really will!
- Negotiations went well
“I just think it went great. I think a lot of times, when you talk about a relationship that you have with individuals, you can just talk to them normally and direct cause I've known these guys for seven-plus years. And a lot of times when financial stuff kind of gets into play, it gets a little bit more sensitive or etc. But I thought from my standpoint, they understood where I came from, I understood where he came from. It was all about being in the place where it made sense for everybody and I was glad that we were able to finish it.”
Karalis’ take: I don’t think he would have said this if negotiations sucked, but I also don’t think he would have framed it like this if they did.
It just highlights what we’ve been saying all along. They were just taking their time with the finer points and there was never any real issue with putting this deal together.
- Jaylen Brown is focused on giving back
He was asked a couple of times about trying to digest the fact that he’s making $304 million in his next deal. Here is one of his responses:
“Oh yeah, for sure. The way my brain works, probably maybe a little differently than others. When I first made sure when it first was finalized, the first thing that came to mind is like, ‘Dang, look what all you can do with it now. Like how much you can invest into your community, what you can build with it, what you can change, how many lives you can touch and what you can do in real-time. Those resources that you have, you know, money isn’t everything but the ability to have resources, to put stuff together, to build things, to change things, to have influence, all of that stuff is more inspirational to me than anything, so now is the pressure is like, now I have to build something fitting, something monumental, to reach up to make sense for that astronomical number, but I’m excited to do so.”
He also said, “I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here to Boston. 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 for the betterment of the entire economy. With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about money invested in the community, but also the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about. It's top five in the U.S. It’s something that we can all improve on. It’s unsettling. And I think through my platform, through influential partners, through selective leaders, government officials, a lot of whom are in this room, that we can come together and create new jobs, new resources, new businesses, new ideas that could highlight minorities, but also stimulate the economy and the wealth gap at the same time. I think that could be a mix of commercial entities, real estate, residentials as well. Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub attacking minorities and stimulating the wealth gap. I think Boston could be a pilot, not just for wealth disparity and in the U.S., but also for around the world. So you asked me what I wanted to do, or what I want to do; one, I want to attack that wealth gap here in Boston, create a project. Also, I want to help stimulate the overall economy. And I want to bring Black Wall Street to Boston.”
Karalis’ take: Brown seems steadfast in his desire to change the community for the better. I am very curious to see how his initiatives go, because he can be an influential player in the city as well.
Brown has always had this desire, and this kind of money will certainly help him accomplish those goals. At the same time, he’s making big plans and he has to see them through. I’m looking forward to what he’s able to do for the city.