It’s hard to believe that Jordan Walsh will enter his fourth season as a Boston Celtic when October rolls around. As of Monday, we now know he will be back. The fourth year of Walsh’s contract became fully guaranteed for $2.4 million.
Jordan Walsh's contact with the Boston Celtics becomes fully guaranteed for $2.4M today.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 20, 2026
Walsh will be extension-eligible throughout the balance of the season. He can extend for up to 140% of the average player salary, which would start at $21.2M per season.
Retaining Walsh felt like a no-brainer heading into the summer. It took a mere four days after the team’s first-round elimination for reports of his return to surface. The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach shared that both Walsh and Neemias Queta (who inked a four-year, $56 million extension earlier this month) would be back in Boston for the 2026-27 season.
“Queta, who emerged as one of the league’s top centers this season and finished fourth in the Most Improved Player voting, will have his option picked up,” Himmelsbach wrote on May 6. “So will Walsh, who earned coach Joe Mazzulla’s trust guarding stars.”
The former Arkansas standout had something of a breakout season this past campaign. Walsh logged 1,212 minutes over 68 appearances and 25 starts. For context, he played just 486 minutes in 61 appearances over his first two years with the Celtics.
He played a huge role in Boston’s emergence as a competitive team in November and December. There was a stretch where Walsh held a regular spot in the starting lineup, played lockdown defense, and seemingly mastered his low-usage offensive role.
Through 16 early-season starts, Walsh averaged 8.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 61.6% from the field and 43.8% from deep. He came down with an illness in mid-December and wasn’t ever able to return to the same level of production after returning to the lineup.
That’s not to say he didn’t have moments, though.
What does an extension look like for Jordan Walsh?
The big question now is whether or not Walsh will be a Celtic past this season. According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith, the 22-year-old will be eligible to negotiate an extension with the Cs throughout the upcoming campaign. Said extension can be worth up to $21.2 million per season.
Now, it’s unlikely that Boston will commit that much of their salary cap to Walsh, who, for the most part, remains unproven as a consistent rotation player. It’d be more realistic to see him sign a deal closer to the one Payton Pritchard is currently on; something like four yours, $32 million
Pritchard was in a similar spot to Walsh when he re-upped with Boston. He’d shown some promise, but had still yet to crack the rotation as a regular.
Walsh hopes to impress this season by improving his offensive game.
"The biggest thing is I'm trying to change my identity offensively," he explained earlier this week in Las Vegas. "I'm trying to become a better, way better offensive player. I'm trying to fit in situations that I didn't fit in last year. I'm trying to be the answer to the situations that they took me out for. That's kind of my goal."
Walsh added that he hopes to sharpen his shot, handle, and overall become a more reliable shot creator. If he’s able to meet those goals, then whatever extension he agrees to in Boston will likely be a valuable one.
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