Jaylen Brown gets a 5-year extension from the Boston Celtics worth up to $304 million — the largest deal in NBA history
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown dribbles the ball during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat on May 21, 2023, in Miami.
Wilfredo Lee/AP Celtics guard Jaylen Brown dribbles the ball during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat on May 21, 2023, in Miami.
The Boston Celtics have answered their most pressing question of the offseason. Jaylen Brown will be part of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
Brown, 26, has agreed to terms on a five-year supermax contract extension that will pay him up to $304 million, his agent said Tuesday.
It’s the richest contract in NBA history, surpassing the $264 million deal Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic signed last summer.
ESPN first reported the deal, which Brown’s agent, Jason Glushon, confirmed to The Associated Press.
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It keeps Brown with the team that drafted him with the No. 3 pick in 2016 and watched him develop into a two-time All-Star.
He averaged career highs of 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season. But those numbers went down in the playoffs, in which the Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. In Game 7 Brown had 19 points on 8-of-23 shooting, making just 1 of 9 attempts from 3-point range.
Still, the totality of his time in Boston has made him a key piece of the franchise’s core that management wasn’t willing to risk seeing depart when his current four-year deal expires after next season.
By virtue of making the All-NBA second team — his first such honor — he was eligible for the supermax extension.
From the moment this past season ended, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been adamant he wanted to see Brown sign a long-term deal.
“He’s a big part of us. We believe in him and I’m thankful for him,” Stevens said last month. “I’m really thankful that when those guys have success, they come back to work. And when they get beat, they own it and they come back to work. And so I know that’s what they’re about. And that’s hard to find.”
Those sentiments were echoed by All-Star Jayson Tatum, who has paired with Brown to lead the Celtics in their runs to the NBA Finals in 2021-22 and the conference finals last season.
After their East finals loss in May, Tatum said retaining Brown long term was “extremely important.”
“He’s one of the best players in this league,” Tatum said. “He plays both ends of the ball and still is relatively young. And he’s accomplished a lot so far in his career. So it’s extremely important.”
Brown’s deal likely will lead to some financial maneuvering down the road with the league’s new collective bargaining agreement bringing more limitations on how teams construct their rosters and additional luxury tax penalties.
Tatum still is playing under his rookie extension that kicked in last season and will be eligible for a supermax extension next summer.
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