Jaylen Brown signs biggest contract in NBA history to end Celtics uncertainty

25 July 2023 , 15:24

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Jaylen Brown will sign the biggest deal in NBA history after agreeing extension terms with the Boston Celtics. (Image: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Uncertainty over Jaylen Brown's NBA future has been put to bed after he agreed to a massive record-breaking contract with the Boston Celtics.

The 26-year-old will sign a five-year, $304million (£236.5m) supermax extension with the Celtics, making it the biggest deal in NBA history, according to Shams Charania.

Brown has been outstanding for the Celtics since being drafted third overall in 2016, and he averaged a career-high 26.6 points per game and shot 49 per cent from the field last season.

Brown's deal will beat the $276m (£214.5m) extension signed by the Denver Nuggets' two-time MVP Nikola Jokic last summer. Brown was eligible for a supermax deal after being named second-team All-NBA for the 2022-23 campaign.

Brown had entered into the final year of a four-year contract with the Celtics, but with the team in a window to potentially win a championship in the coming years, they could not risk the chance of losing a prized asset as a free agent in 2024.

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The 26-year-old will earn $52.3m (£40.6m) when the contract kicks in in 2024-25 and his salary will rise to $69.1m (£53.7m) in the final season of the deal, which does not include a no-trade clause because he has signed an extension. His current deal, which is worth $31.8m (£24.7m) for 2023-24, did include a no-trade clause.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum's partnership is set to continue for years to come.

Shooting guard Brown has formed an excellent partnership with Jayson Tatum in Boston in recent seasons, with the team reaching the NBA Finals and the Eastern Conference Finals in the past two years respectively. The pair averaged 56.7 points per game together last season, the fourth-most by a duo since the league merged in 1976-77.

After a desperately disappointing defeat to the Miami Heat in seven games in the Conference Finals last month, the Celtics have retooled their roster with long-serving point guard Marcus Smart traded away in a three-team deal that saw one-time All-Star Kristaps Porzingis head to Boston.

With Smart gone and Porzingis added to the starting five, Boston has a new dimension next season with a free-scoring big man.

The Latvian averaged 23.2 points per game for the Washington Wizards last season and the Celtics hope he is the missing ingredient as they try to get over the hum and end a 15-year wait for an NBA title.

Sam Frost