Jaylen Brown’s contract extension means these Boston Celtics are here to stay

With Jaylen Brown’s new 4-year, $115 million contract extension, it is apparent Danny Ainge intends on keeping this Boston Celtics’ core intact for years to come.

Jaylen Brown and his four-year, near-max extension was the first domino to fall in Danny Ainge keeping this Boston Celtics core intact for the foreseeable future. Granted, the NBA is an ever-changing dynamic world of transactions.

Paul George‘s trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Los Angeles Clippers this past offseason shows that god laughs at long-term planning in this league. However, in inking Brown to such a lucrative pact, the Boston Celtics punted on being players in the 2020 offseason where they could have cleared money from the books by moving on from the 22-year-old and Gordon Hayward (who has a $32.7 million player option in 2020-21).

Instead, Boston has locked itself into improving internally. At this point, retaining Hayward could be their next priority for the Celtics…barring a trade for a top-line center like Steven Adams or Myles Turner (who looks more likely to be traded following Domantas Sabonis‘ recent $77 million extension).

Whatever the case is, you can pencil in fellow Team USA forward and former #3 pick Jayson Tatum for a max extension next summer for the Boston Celtics. If Brown was able to earn an annual average salary of $29 million, Tatum is ticketed for at least that, barring a catastrophic injury.

Having signed Kemba Walker to a four-year max deal this past offseason, it is obvious that Ainge likes what he has in this core. Even in the midst of the team’s success in 2017, he didn’t feel comfortable inking Isaiah Thomas to a long-term deal, which in hindsight was an unfortunate, but smart decision.

After seeing the most talented Boston Celtics team he has had since the “Big 3” era fail due to a poor fit, it seems that Ainge believes in this core’s ability to put it together and, in turn,  believes they are worth the investment.

With limited resources, it is his responsibility to fill out the remaining holes on the roster. To Ainge’s credit, the team did come away with potential draft steals in Carsen Edwards, Grant Williams and Tremont Waters, who will be under team control for the next few years. Tacko Fall and Javonte Green offer upside as un-drafted diamonds in the rough and figure to be easy to retain if Ainge cashes in on their value before it skyrockets (if it ever does of course).

While some may view Brown’s extension as an overpayment, Ainge clearly believes the gamble could lead to hitting the jackpot. Throughout the years, overall, Ainge has kept the Boston Celtics in the contenders category and has earned the trust of Beantown’s most faithful followers.

The onus is on Brown to keep that faith within the fanbase. In signing him, the Boston Celtics are locked into this core, and he will determine whether that is for better or worse.