The Celtics won’t be fooling around when it comes to keeping forward Jayson Tatum in Boston for a very long time, and it’s no surprise the young star will be receiving a large sum of money when he signs his next deal.
The Celtics reportedly are prepared to offer Tatum a max contract, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, and it’s no surprise as the 22-year-old Tatum has impressed since being drafted in 2017.
“If Jayson Tatum is the superstar that they envisioned when they began this whole rebuilding process when they traded Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for all of those draft picks hoping to land a player like this, we could see ‘Glory Days’ for the Celtics again,” Windhorst said on SportsCenter, as transcribed by Bleacher Report’s Adam Wells.
“But it’s very much up in the air, and I’m gonna tell ya, they’re gonna have to pay him like it because after this season ends, he is going to get most likely a max contract. They’re going to bet that he becomes that player.”
One problem that may occur when attempting to lock up Tatum is the uncertainty of the salary cap due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier in the month, Marc Berman of the New York Post reported the NBA’s salary cap would “for sure” be lowered, and Tatum may not be so keen on making less than what he’s worth.
Max extension values are based on 25 percent of the salary cap, with the ability to increase based on incentives, so determining the cap for the 2020-21 season will need to be done before max deals are shelled out by the Celtics.
Tatum has emerged as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars, and was putting together a stellar 2019-20 campaign before the season was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. The All-Star was averaging a team-high 23.6 points per game along with 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc.
