Jaylen's impending Free Agency could resemble the OKC Harden dilemma

[Smartacus]

If I am a team like Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Toronto etc. I see Jaylen Brown as the next OKC James Harden situation.

It is rare that a player that many teams would view as deserving of a Max contract after his rookie deal be attainable to a team that did not draft him. This situation occurs when the player has lacked a more prominent role on their current team which forces the hand of the team that drafted him to make a decision on whether to max them out or let them walk.

In 2012 Sam Presti was faced with one of the great dilemmas of the last decade. He had three potential bona fide Superstars that all need to get paid with James Harden at the time playing as a sixth man. Presti and the organization had to make the decision as to whether they should tie their fate to Westbrook Harden Durant Ibaka or let one of them go so that they could have a more balanced roster around the other two.

The rest is history Harden is traded to Houston and shows that he is one of the greatest scorers in history while OKC is left holding the bag and let a potential Dynasty slip through their hands.

I'm not suggesting that Jaylen is on the level 2012 Harden was as a prospect, but I have little doubt that there will be a team that rolls the dice and chooses to max out Jaylen to a number that we wouldn't be comfortable matching.

If and when that happens Danny will be forced to make the Presti decision of 'do I overextend on a player that might not end up as an elite wing or do I risk losing a player that will grow and shine in another market?'

Presti convinced himself that trading Harden was best for the long term health of the team, will DA have similar thoughts about Jaylen? Time will tell.

[RPGenerate]

The Harden situation is one of the biggest missed opportunities in NBA history. The owners were huge cheap-asses that wouldn't pay the luxury tax, and Sam Presti thought keeping Perkins was more important... So let's hope that doesn't happen to us lol.

[gpap]

In the next 2 years, Brown, Tatum and Hayward will all hit free agency.

Something will have to give as keeping 3 guys who play the same position is redundant.

My gut feeling is Jaylen stays because he can also play the 2 and the team will have to make a decision between Hayward and Tatum.

[Silky]

In the next 2 years, Brown, Tatum and Hayward will all hit free agency.

Something will have to give as keeping 3 guys who play the same position is redundant.

My gut feeling is Jaylen stays because he can also play the 2 and the team will have to make a decision between Hayward and Tatum.

Imo. Not a hard decision there

[jambr380]

Unless Brown shows true regression this season (unlikely), Ainge will absolutely match another team's max contract offer to Jaylen and he can take his time deciding what to do with him then. In no universe do I see Ainge just letting Jaylen walk in RFA.

The OKC situation was odd and clearly didn't work out for them. They traded Harden for pieces and those pieces didn't even come close to adding up to Harden. It was already assumed that Harden was going to be at least a fringe all-star player, the trade they accepted was just pretty horrible - especially in hindsight.

The parallel you present is something, but Ainge is really not the type to sell low. He is trying to get back up to the top, not sell his best young players/picks for pennies on the dollar.

[Ogaju]

Unless Brown shows true regression this season (unlikely), Ainge will absolutely match another team's max contract offer to Jaylen and he can take his time deciding what to do with him then. In no universe do I see Ainge just letting Jaylen walk in RFA.

The OKC situation was odd and clearly didn't work out for them. They traded Harden for pieces and those pieces didn't even come close to adding up to Harden. It was already assumed that Harden was going to be at least a fringe all-star player, the trade they accepted was just pretty horrible - especially in hindsight.

The parallel you present is something, but Ainge is really not the type to sell low. He is trying to get back up to the top, not sell his best young players/picks for pennies on the dollar.

OKC was on the precipice of great things, but they just could not meet the moment. They blinked and shied away from greatness. They sold Ibaka, they sold Harden.

[gouki88]

In the next 2 years, Brown, Tatum and Hayward will all hit free agency.

Something will have to give as keeping 3 guys who play the same position is redundant.

My gut feeling is Jaylen stays because he can also play the 2 and the team will have to make a decision between Hayward and Tatum.

Imo. Not a hard decision there

What a great surprise

[bellerephon]

Unless Brown shows true regression this season (unlikely), Ainge will absolutely match another team's max contract offer to Jaylen and he can take his time deciding what to do with him then. In no universe do I see Ainge just letting Jaylen walk in RFA.

The OKC situation was odd and clearly didn't work out for them. They traded Harden for pieces and those pieces didn't even come close to adding up to Harden. It was already assumed that Harden was going to be at least a fringe all-star player, the trade they accepted was just pretty horrible - especially in hindsight.

The parallel you present is something, but Ainge is really not the type to sell low. He is trying to get back up to the top, not sell his best young players/picks for pennies on the dollar.

OKC was on the precipice of great things, but they just could not meet the moment. They blinked and shied away from greatness. They sold Ibaka, they sold Harden.

They should have kept Ibaka, but moving Harden was the right choice. I really don't think that Westbrook and Harden can coexist all that well on the same team.

[Never Nervous Pervis]

Unless Brown shows true regression this season (unlikely), Ainge will absolutely match another team's max contract offer to Jaylen and he can take his time deciding what to do with him then. In no universe do I see Ainge just letting Jaylen walk in RFA.

The OKC situation was odd and clearly didn't work out for them. They traded Harden for pieces and those pieces didn't even come close to adding up to Harden. It was already assumed that Harden was going to be at least a fringe all-star player, the trade they accepted was just pretty horrible - especially in hindsight.

The parallel you present is something, but Ainge is really not the type to sell low. He is trying to get back up to the top, not sell his best young players/picks for pennies on the dollar.

OKC was on the precipice of great things, but they just could not meet the moment. They blinked and shied away from greatness. They sold Ibaka, they sold Harden.

They should have kept Ibaka, but moving Harden was the right choice. I really don't think that Westbrook and Harden can coexist all that well on the same team.

Last time they "co-existed" pretty well; OKC went to the NBA Finals.

[Csfan1984]

When you can match there is no rush to extend unless there is a team friendly discount. Brown could also be looking for a bigger role and may not want to extend unless he gets it.

[Fierce1]

When you can match there is no rush to extend unless there is a team friendly discount. Brown could also be looking for a bigger role and may not want to extend unless he gets it.

If Hayward returns to All-Star form and Tatum becomes a 20-point scorer, Brown will not get a bigger role.

We all know Hayward is Brad's boy.

Tatum is better than Brown.

So Brown will just have to be content with whatever is given to him.

[Fierce1]

Only way the Celts will be keeping all 3, Hayward, Brown, and Tatum, is if Tatum can play PF on a regular basis.

[Ogaju]

Only way the Celts will be keeping all 3, Hayward, Brown, and Tatum, is if Tatum can play PF on a regular basis.

judging from the new video that surfaced with Tatum going one-on-one with Chris Paul and then with Bradley Beal it does not like he is trying to be a power forward.

[gouki88]

Only way the Celts will be keeping all 3, Hayward, Brown, and Tatum, is if Tatum can play PF on a regular basis.

judging from the new video that surfaced with Tatum going one-on-one with Chris Paul and then with Bradley Beal it does not like he is trying to be a power forward.

How can you use that video to judge how he'll be playing next season?

[droopdog7]

I see very few similarities between the two situations.  Harden was behind two bonafide superstars even at that point.  And as the OP says, he was the superior talent compared to brown.  I was confident harden would blow up and obviously he has.

Brown will be behind one star, another still trying to come back, and a third basically trying to make a name for himself still.  If brown was as good as harden he’d slip in as a 1b with Kemba right now.

In OKC’s case, they KNEW they had three stars but basically cheaped out.  In the Celtics case, they may have to choose to pay max money to a 2b-3a player at best (because others may overpay) or risk losing brown for nothing.