Jaylen Brown breaks silence amid stalling contract talks with Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown‘s unfinished contract extension has been the biggest storyline surrounding the Boston Celtics this summer. Once Brown was named to the All-NBA Third Team last season, he became eligible for an extension worth up to 35% of the Celtics’ salary cap.

When he received the honor, fans were excited at the idea of Boston being able to secure his services for up to five more seasons. However, since then talks have stalled and the 26-year-old is without an extension, weeks after the negotiating period opened.

Brown recently spoke publicly for the first time since becoming eligible for a supermax contract extension on July 1. He sat down with ABC News’ Lindsay Davis on July 20, to discuss the efforts of his 7uice Foundation’s community work in Boston Schools.

During the sit-down, Brown also shared some insight about his feelings on the organization, heading into next season.

“I just see opportunity. A lot to learn — a lot to improve on,” Brown said. “You can’t take for granted the opportunities that you get. It’s a privilege to be in a winning organization with a winning team, so it’ll be great to bring back the guys and try to go on another run.”

The Boston Celtics should extend Jaylen Brown, right?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Brown has played his entire seven-year NBA career with the Boston Celtics. During that time, the team has had nothing but success. They’ve appeared in the playoffs in all seven of his NBA seasons, making the Eastern Conference Finals five times, and advancing to the NBA Finals once.

Plus, Brown has been a key contributor in the past few seasons, to say the very least. He’s been named to two NBA All-Star teams in the last three seasons, averaging 25.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, while shooting 48.3% from the field and 36.1% from distance since the 2020-21 season.

Allowing the former No. 3 overall pick to enter free agency next summer would be ludicrous. He’s absolutely earned the payday that he’s eligible for and should be a staple of Boston’s roster for years to come.

The level of uncertainty has been brought in because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which severely punishes teams that overspend.

Do the Celtics want to handcuff themselves down the line because of Brown’s lucrative contract? That’s the real question.

For more on the Jaylen Brown contract extension saga, check out a recent episode of the How ‘Bout them Celtics podcast, where CelticsBlog’s Jack Simone and I discuss the latest.