Ainge did not pay a premium. He got Jaylen on a contract that is less than Jaylen is worth (the max). He saved the team $15mil over 4 years with this contract.
Great business for the Celtics. Not so much for Jaylen. He left a lot of money on the table.
Paying $115M over 4 years to a guy with career highs of 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists - you don't consider that to be paying a premium?
That's an interesting perspective.
I mean, I understand the concept of "potential" and the argument that if Ainge didn't pay him somebody else would. But does the fact that SOMEBODY out there is willing to pay him that necessarily mean he is worth that?
I don't know.
I'm a little worried about this one. It's a big commitment from the team, who already has max money tied up in Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker and still needs to allow for an extension to Jayson Tatum (which will almost certainly be a max). Even if Hayward opts out next year that's still three max or near max contacts allocated to Kemba, Brown and Tatum - will the team have enough cap space left over to build a contender around that core?
Is Brown going to develop into the borderline All-Star that he'd have to become in order to justify that type of money?
I guess we will find out.