As we continue to wait for Jaylen Brown to sign his supermax contract extension, the person responsible for giving it to him is telling us not to fret.
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Wednesday night he remains "optimistic" that the team will extend Brown in the near future.
"It’s been all good discussion," Stevens told reporters in Las Vegas, via Mass Live's Brian Robb. "We want Jaylen to be here for a long, long time and we’ve made that clear. We’re looking forward to all sitting down, and we’ve got time here. I probably shouldn’t say anything else, but I feel optimistic."
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MORE CELTICS ANALYSIS
Brown is coming off a career season in which he earned Second-Team All-NBA honors, making him eligible to sign a five-year supermax contract worth up to 35 percent of the salary cap, or roughly $295 million. That's far more than he can earn with any other team, and all reporting to date suggests it's a matter of when, not if, Brown signs the supermax with Boston.
Still, it's at least somewhat curious that Brown has gone nearly two full weeks without putting pen to paper after his extension window opened July 1. While Brown's camp and the Celtics had "continued dialogue" over the weekend, per The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach, there's still "work to be done" between the two sides, who appear to be negotiating over the terms of Brown's deal.
The Celtics finished two important items of business Wednesday by officially completing the Grant Williams sign-and-trade and announcing Kristaps Porzingis' two-year, $60 million extension. The team's last NBA Summer League game is Friday night in Vegas, so perhaps Stevens and Brown can reach an agreement before the league enters its late-July quiet period.
Then again, Brown technically has until October to sign his extension, so if either he or the Celtics aren't ready to reach an agreement, they have the option of keeping fans waiting even longer.