One of the most critical things to have in today’s NBA is versatile, athletic, two-way wings. They’re scarce and hard to come by, and the ones that exist are usually handsomely paid and incredibly hard to acquire. Look no further than the Dallas Mavericks signing Naji Marshall to a three-year, $52 million extension on Sunday.
I like Marshall a lot as a player, and I think this is a solid deal for both sides. Clearly, Dallas values him highly as well and sees how important that type of player is and can be. But is he that much better than Jordan Walsh? Or Baylor Scheierman? Or Hugo Gonzalez? How about Ron Harper Jr.?
Sure, Marshall has obviously accomplished and proven a lot more in his NBA career, but I’m not convinced he’ll be better than any of those guys over the next three seasons. And then, when you factor in the contracts is where it really gets fun.
Naji is set to make $18.2 million this season for the Mavericks. For some perspective, Walsh, Scheierman, Gonzalez, and Harper Jr. will combine to make just over $11 million for the 2026-27 season. Walsh was also extended this offseason, but his new deal will start a year from now and is just three years and $15 million total.
The Celtics are loaded with young two-way wing depth
Harper Jr. also signed an extension this season that also looks extremely team-friendly, as he’ll make roughly $14 million over the next four seasons. Baylor will be up for an extension next summer and then Hugo a year after that.
I understand that I’m talking about rookie extensions while Marshall is a veteran. I also understand that all four of these young Celtics wings may not pan out. Maybe none of them will ever be quite as good as Marshall is today.
But the point is that wing depth is paramount, and Brad Stevens and the Celtics have set up a factory that seems to produce young wings, either out of the draft or via free agency. Then, Stevens extends these players on bargain contracts that either provide great value to the team or become useful trade assets.
And when one ages out or becomes too expensive, it seems like he has two more waiting in the wings (pun intended). The Celtics’ development team has been incredible for these guys, and Brad’s ability to get out ahead of these extensions and extract value has been as well. It’s certainly not like he’s put together a superteam or anything like that, but the ability to keep replenishing the wing depth is saving the Celtics from giving out the kinds of deals that Marshall got, and it should keep them in contention for the foreseeable future.
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