Boston Celtics Finals MVP Jaylen Brown is looking to level up in 2024-25.
That could prove tough, given that the three-time All-Star small forward helped lead Boston to its first championship since 2007-08 with an impressive playoff run.
The 6-foot-6 swingman, still just 27, averaged 23.9 points on .516/.327/.660 shooting splits, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks across his club’s brisk 16-3 run to the title. In the Finals, against Brown’s former All-Star Celtics teammate Kyrie Irving, All-NBA guard Luka Doncic, and the rest of their Dallas Mavericks, Boston quickly dispatched of the opposition in five games.
Read more: Celtics Win Record-Breaking 18th NBA Finals With Blowout Win Over Mavericks
Nevertheless, Brown seemed to relay an eagerness to better his 2023-24 output on Instagram. When a fan, @mor9aning, commented “JB villain year loading…” on a recent Brown post, Brown responded with an emphatic “I want blood.”
In a series of summer moves, the Celtics made it crystal clear that they are quite committed to their current roster.
Most importantly, Boston inked All-NBA power forward Jayson Tatum to a five-year contract extension worth an estimated $314 million.
Read more: Celtics, Jayson Tatum Agree to Largest Deal in NBA History
The five-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA honoree, generally considered Boston’s best player, had a patchy playoffs from a shooting perspective, but remained a lethal scorer, rebounder, and defender, plus a solid distributor relative to his position. Brown’s more consistent play against Dallas ultimately helped him secure Finals MVP honors over Tatum, but Tatum’s place as top dog in the club’s hierarchy is pretty established.
Jayson Tatum #0, Al Horford #42, Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics celebrate after Boston’s 106-88 win against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Five of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 17, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. Jaylen Brown is looking to level up next season.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Tatum wasn’t the only 2024 Paris Olympics champion and Celtics starter to earn an extension post-Finals. All-Defensive Second Team guard Derrick White also agreed to a four-season, $125.9 million extension deal to stay with Boston through the 2028-29 season.
Read more: Celtics Sign Derrick White to Massive Contract Extension
In April, the Celtics also signed their third 2024 Olympian, All-Defensive Second Team combo guard Jrue Holiday, to a four-season, $135 million contract extension. Over the summer, the team has also brought back third-string center Luke Cornet to a one-year, veteran’s minimum agreement, picked up the team option for wing Sam Hauser, and decided to re-sign backup bigs Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta.
After finishing 64-18 in the regular season and running roughshod through the postseason, Boston seems poised to remain the class of the Eastern Conference in 2024-25. Every starter remains in his relative prime. Beyond the 27-year-old Brown, Tatum is just 26, White is 30, and starting center Kristaps Porzingis (who’ll miss the start of the year as he recovers from a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg) is 29. Only Holiday, at 34, could be at risk of an age-related decline, although he looked like his typically lethal two-way self this summer in Paris.
If Brown really believes he can return to his 2022-23 All-NBA level or perhaps even surpass it, the team could also rise up a tier or two in terms of its win tally this season.
