Back in October, Jaylen Brown inked a 4-year, $115 million contract extension with the Celtics just before the deadline for rookie’s to re-sign with their teams. At the time, the deal was paraded in NBA circles as a bit of an overpay, but Brown’s breakout season has silenced those criticizing the Celtics for the move. Brown would’ve entered restricted free agency had he not come to an agreement with the Celtics before October 21st at 6pm ET. Jaylen Brown went on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast this past week and gave some insight on his negotiations with the Celtics.
“I didn’t think that anything was going to get done.” Jaylen said when asked about how negotiations started with Boston. “The first initial offer was 4 years, $80 (million) and I didn’t think they were gonna budge from that.” After Jaylen heard the Celtics first offer, he says he was “hell bent” on playing his 4th year out and entering free agency next summer. When the Celtics jumped all the way up to $115 million, Brown felt it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. “That just showed that they wanted me here in the organization, they appreciated my value, they thought that I added to winning, so it was an offer that was too hard to turn down.”
Brown will make just under $24 million next season when his extension kicks in which will slot him right behind Jrue Holiday, Nikola Vucevic and LaMarcus Aldridge and just ahead of Draymond Green on the NBA salary scale. Brown is currently set to be the 47th highest paid player in the NBA next season, but that is subject to change with Anthony Davis and others yet to sign deals for next season.
You can listen to Brown’s full appearance on the Woj Pod here: http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=28521318
Photo: (Winslow Townson – AP Photo)