The 26-year old All-Star, who could become a free agent in the summer of 2024, was asked to clarify some candid comments he made in an interview with The Ringer, regarding his commitment to the C's once his current contract expires.
"I don't know. As long as I'm needed. It's not up to me," Brown said in the article. "We'll see how they feel about me over time and I feel about them over time. Hopefully, whatever it is, it makes sense. But I will stay where I'm wanted. I will stay where I'm needed and treated correct."
According to Brown, his answer was vague "because that type of stuff makes Celtics fans speculate and go crazy." But after dropping 27 points in the team's 132-109 win over the Sacramento Kings Tuesday, the veteran wing was asked to clarify his recent comments.
"I feel great, on a 50-win team right now, which [you] can't take for granted. [Tuesday] was the 50th win," Brown said during his postgame presser. "Right now, I'm focused on helping lead my team for another playoff run. In terms of speculation et cetera, I can't speculate on anything above what I'm doing right now."I think sometimes when people write articles, they get taken out of context at times, especially when writers have their own agendas or whatever. For me personally, thinking about clarifying things that have been recently said. But other than that, I'm focused on my team. I'm focused on playing basketball and focused on winning games."
When asked if there was any specifics that may have been taken out of context that he cared to explain further, Brown wouldn't elaborate.
"Nothing right now," Brown added. "The only thing I want to clarify is that the Celtics need to play better and win more games. If I want to say something in the future about the kind of things that's been floating around, I will."But in terms of right now, I like when people hear things from the horse's mouth and you can see my reaction, and my face and everything -- how I feel about what I'm saying. Sometimes those things can get lost in translation. If I feel the need to do so, I will. I keep constant communication with my teammates and organization. And we have to have everybody on board if we're going to do things that we say we're going to do. Right now, I'm focused on that."
Brown is averaging 26.7 points on 49.2% shooting from the field, 6.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest so far during the 2022-23 campaign (61 games) with one season remaining on a four-year, $115 million rookie-scale extension -- signed back in the summer of 2019. If the Celtics wing were to make an All-NBA Team, he would be eligible to make upwards of $50 million on top of the most Boston could offer -- which is in the neighborhood of $230 million -- totaling an approximate $280 million or so as a supermax extension after incentives.
Needless to say ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski doesn't think Brown said anything to warrant panic from the Celtics' front office or even fans for that matter, especially with the team standing at 50-23 (the second best record in the East and 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks) with nine games left to play.
"He is a thoughtful individual," Wojnarowski said on "ESPN's Get Up" Wednesday morning. "Not every player is going to give up his leverage when he talks about it publicly. I didn't think the comment was that incendiary. I thought he left it open-ended.
"Boston knows," Wojnarowski added. "With Jaylen Brown and with Jayson Tatum, you have to treat every year as though it's your best chance to win one and to win another. Because as talented as Boston is, probably the deepest roster in the league, this is a year-to-year proposition in the NBA."
While a lot can happen in year, including Boston hosting another Larry O'Brien trophy and raising that elusive banner 18 within the next few months, Brown is clearly letting it all play out even if that leads to all types of questions and speculations.
Joel Pavón
Jaylen Brown's response to the question about his future with the Celtics shows his professionalism and focus on the present. Can We Browse The Internet Anonymously His commitment to staying focused.
ReplyDelete