Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is able to cash in on a lucrative rookie extension as soon as this summer, but that front is all quiet at the moment.
Brown recently told Brian Robb of Boston Sports Journal that he hasn't talked to the team about a potential extension.
Jaylen Brown is eligible for a new long-term deal as well as he enters his fourth NBA season, but the 22-year-old wing told BostonSportsJournal.com on Wednesday at Thomas & Mack Center that the team has not discussed an extension yet with him.
“I haven’t heard from them,” Brown told BSJ. “The ball is in their court.”
Brown, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, is a crucial member of the Celtics' young core, a group that includes Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Robert Williams and the team's 2019 first-round draft picks Romeo Langford and Grant Williams.
If Brown and the Celtics don't agree to an extension before the October deadline, he will become a restricted free agent next offseason. The Celtics would have the ability to match any offer sheet Brown receives from a rival team if it came to that point.
After a strong sophomore season, Brown went through a rollercoaster 2018-19 campaign. He began the season as a starter but was relegated to a sixth man role when a hand injury hampered his performance. Brown rebounded nicely midway through last season and ended up averaging 13 points and 4.2 rebounds, while shooting 34.2 percent from 3-point range over 74 games. The third-year guard improved his scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage in Boston's nine-game playoff run. The best stretch of his young career came in the 2018 playoffs, when he averaged 18 points per game and shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range while helping lead the Celtics to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
It's safe to say the upcoming season is huge for Brown. There's no reason for the Celtics to commit huge money and term to him before October's deadline. Brown has shown signs of being an All-Star caliber two-way wing, but he also needs to be more consistent. It would behoove the Celtics' front office to gather another season's worth of data before giving him a new deal.
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Since the beginning of free agency, the Philadelphia 76ers reportedly committed a rookie max contract extension to point guard Ben Simmons and the Denver Nuggets reportedly did the same with guard Jamal Murray. These two stars from the 2016 draft deserved these deals and both are further along in their development than Brown.
Brown and New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram (originally selected No. 2 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers) have the most to prove from their draft class entering 2019-20.
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