Boston Celtics: Pros and cons to offering Jayson Tatum max extension
By Josh Wilson
Celtics con to extending Jayson Tatum: Lose flexibility.
The other side of the coin of a secured and firm core is that you have less flexibility than other teams to go after those big-name players and fresh talent. While we can dream of some superstars to someday pair with Tatum, the reality of the situation is it’s going to be hard to make that happen without going well above the salary cap and into the luxury tax.
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If the Celtics are to sign Tatum, they’ll be committing likely max money to him while paying out a significant amount of their salary to Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown as well.
That cap bill isn’t going to allow them to squeeze in an Anthony Davis or a Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s simply not happening.
As of now, I reckon most Boston Celtics fans would be fine moving forward with the core as-is. That doesn’t mean things can’t change over the next season. Injuries happen, and the league is more fluid in how things are happening than ever before due to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the league.
Nothing is ever certain, but it’s suddenly become more true than ever before for NBA teams.
The shamrocks can, and still will likely bring in young talent via the draft to develop behind the scenes and underneath their current core. They already have a decent young core with Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, and of course, Tacko Fall. They can leverage their draft picks and youthful assets in trades to make marginal moves if they do need to be flexible as unforeseen circumstances come up.
Those are small moves, though. There won’t be much flexibility for the Celtics if they extend Tatum, and it could strain them for some time if things don’t go according to plan.