Where Do the Boston Celtics and Jaylen Brown Go From Here? No Easy Answers
UPDATED
There are no perfect decisions for the Boston Celtics when it comes to what to do with Jaylen Brown.
But the day of reckoning is coming because the one-time Cal standout is eligible this summer to sign a $295 million super-max extension and there are significant consequences either way things go.
Thursday update: Celtics team president Brad Stevens said the team hopes to keep Brown.
"I've had nothing but great conversations with Jaylen," Stevens said. "I can say, without a doubt, we want Jaylen to be here. He's a big part of us. We believe in him and I'm thankful for him. ... 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."
Brown is coming off his best season. He averaged a career-high 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He earned second-team All-NBA honors — along with the likes of Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic — which is what qualifies him for the super-max deal.
He helped the Celtics reach the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row, the fifth time in his seven NBA seasons. He is only 26 years old, with many good seasons in his future.
Jaylen Brown drives against Bam Adebayo of the Heat.
Photo by David Butler II, USA Today
Brown is also coming off a dreadful series against the Miami Heat. After averaging 24.6 points on 54-percent shooting and 47 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Brown recorded 19.0 points on 42 percent accuracy, including 16 percent (7 for 43) from deep in the Eastern Conference finals.
In Game 7, when Boston needed him to take the lead after fellow star Jayson Tatum turned his ankle on the game’s first play, Brown was unable to answer the call. He scored 19 points but shot 8 for 23 and had eight turnovers. He missed eight of nine 3-point attempts.
The Celtics, who had rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to force a deciding Game 7 at home, lost 103-84 to the No. 8 seed in the East. It was ugly.
"Just a terrible game," Brown said. "When my team needed me most … My team turned to me to make plays, and I came up short. I failed. It's tough.
"I give credit to Miami," he added, "but just a terrible job.”
To be fair, there was plenty of blame to go around. The Celtics’ offense was dysfunctional, their defense ineffective. First-year coach Joe Mazzulla was no match for Miami’s Erik Spoelstra.
Still, the post-game banter focused on Brown because he should have been better and he’s the obvious moving part here.
Do they re-sign him to what would (temporarily) be the richest deal in league history or move on?
Do they break up the Jays?
Jayson Tatum, who earned first-team All-NBA honors, argued the Celtics must keep his running mate.
“It’s extremely important,” said Tatum. “He’s one of the best players in this league. He plays both ends of the ball and still is relatively young. And he’s accomplished a lot so far in his career.”
Since Brown arrived in the NBA, the Celtics have played a league-leading 112 playoff games, the most by any team over a seven-year period in NBA history without winning a title. They won 61 of those games — more than any team over that span other than the Warriors.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said he “would be stunned" if the Celtics didn’t re-sign Brown. ”In talking to people on both sides, I think there's a very good chance they're gonna find ground on that.”
Others aren’t convinced. Former Celtics big man and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, never afraid to voice an opinion that stirs controversy, said it’s time for Boston to go a different direction.
The problem, of course, is the money. Signing Brown would mean the Celtics are on the hook for $100 million per year for just him and Tatum. That makes finding money to pay the rest of the roster difficult, especially with the NBA’s new secondary luxury tax level that the Celtics will far exceed if they continue on their current path.
If Boston decides it can’t or won’t find the money to keep Brown, an offseason trade looms. The Trail Blazers have been mentioned, with the Celtics perhaps looking to acquire Damian Lillard, who is older but a more versatile scorer and the playmaker Boston still doesn’t have. But Lillard is beloved by in Portland, so that won’t be an easy deal to make.
In any case, a trade — if it happens — would almost certainly come this offseason because Brown’s salary a year from now makes a trade more difficult still.
If the Celtics had won Game 7 and were about to take on the Denver Nuggets beginning Thursday, this entire narrative likely would be different. But Boston — which has won 17 NBA titles — is without one since 2008. The Jaylen Brown decision is framed by frustration and urgency.
Brown was asked after Monday’s loss what he expects to happen.
“I expected to win today and move on,” he said. “That’s what my focus was on, that’s what my focus has been on. We failed, I failed, and it’s hard to think about anything else right now, to be honest. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
The bridge is almost in sight at this point.
Cover photo of Jaylen Brown, right with disconsolate teammates Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart by Winslow Townsend, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
