"I Will Stay Where I’m Wanted. I Will Stay Where I’m Needed And Treated Correct" - Jaylen Brown's Comments On His Future In Boston Make It Pretty Clear What The Celtics Need To Do

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There have been a few Jaylen Brown pieces to hit the internet over the last few days, first with the New York Times and now the latest coming from The Ringer.

I highly recommend both if you have the time, and I suggest you read the entire thing.

As is often the case when these player profiles come out, there are juicier parts than others, things will get aggregated, NBA Twitter will do it's thing, and that's not just a Jaylen case, that's the case whenever a player has a profile like that. 

Of course for Celts fans, I imagine the only part they truly cared about was near the end when talking about his next deal. Mind you, he's not a free agent until AFTER next season. Here's the full quote

“I don’t know. As long as I’m needed. It’s not up to me,” he says. “We’ll see how they feel about me over time and I feel about them over time. Hopefully, whatever it is, it makes sense. But I will stay where I’m wanted. I will stay where I’m needed and treated correct.”

When asked how long he wants to play with Tatum, Brown keeps his focus on the immediate future.

“I just enjoy the time that you have now,” he says. “If it’s your whole career, it’s your whole career. If it’s not, it’s not. Some of the greatest players of all time haven’t finished with their organization. Michael Jordan retired a Wizard. As much as we like it here and enjoy being here, you see where life takes you. You see how the process goes. All you do is really focus on what’s in front of you right now, to be honest. But I don’t really know or want to answer that question because that type of stuff makes Celtics fans speculate and go crazy. Especially right now, I’ll just say we’ll get there when we get there.”

That last sentence is certainly true. My timeline has been filled with "he gone" takes from this quote. I can understand part of this is probably some residual effects of the Kyrie situation, but I guess it just depends on what you prefer to focus on.

Someone like myself tends to lean towards the positive. I'm not denying that. So I see the words 

But I will stay where I’m wanted. I will stay where I’m needed and treated correct.”

and that seems pretty straight forward to me. It's not just about telling Jaylen he's wanted and needed, it's about proving it. Everyone knows that most likely means paying him as much as humanly possible, which isn't exactly news. No shit the Celts are going to pay whatever Jaylen can make due to the CBA rules. If that's a supermax because he makes one of the All NBA's this year, they're going to do it. Jaylen has every right to "demand" the max and his play has warranted it. To me that's not really an issue.

There's also the other side of the coin with this. I guess maybe some were looking for a more committal answer, but I think that's a little unrealistic. No one is going to have a Kyrie 2.0 situation on their hands. In the NBA, a lot can change in an instant. My guess is he could have given a committal answer in that quote and the narrative would be 

"yeah well Kyrie said the same thing"

so there's really no "right" way to answer a question or topic like that. I can only assume Jaylen was being honest in what he said, and it's on the franchise to take the necessary steps to make sure they get that message across, both through what they say and the money they offer. 

It could very well be as simple as "pay me what I'm worth and we're good" the same way it could be Step 1 in a potential exit. The point is, we know NOTHING right now. My guess is the only people who have a general idea are Jaylen and Brad/Wyc, and given their actions (or lack thereof) that should sort of give you an idea of where things stand at the moment.

For me, Jaylen's future is far down the list of my immediate concerns right now. Nothing, and I legitimitely mean nothing can be done about this on March 21st, 2023. If you were to ask me to rank my Celts concerns right now, I would put something like 4th quarter defensive rebounding about 100000 spots above Jaylen's future. In the midst of a seeding race and title hunt, we have bigger fish to fry over something that won't even technically be an issue until next offseason.

What I don't love is any potential distraction this might cause. If you're going into battle, it's not crazy to suggest you need 100% buy in from everyone, and that starts at the top. The best players have to be committed and focused, and for this entire season that has been the case when it comes to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. With this story coming out basically a few weeks before the playoffs, the hope is that in the locker room, the players are able to block out the noise. This quote is going to lead every TV show, radio show, Twitter, etc. They have to be able to block that all out and stay focused.

So in that regard, it's a little annoying that one of the franchise pillars is part of why this is even a potential distraction, but I can't get on a guy for being honest. We say we want athletes to be real people and talk honestly, so then when they do it we can't get mad at them just because you may not like it. Even though what he said wasn't even that bad! 

The solution to all of this stuff is the same as it's always been. Win. Remember how we basically didn't hear a peep from any anonymous sources talking about issues, or how there was no real drama for 95% of the season? Why do you think that was? Because the Celts were winning. Now during their skid, you're hearing all the type of bullshit that people had to keep inside for 5 months. 

Jaylen is mad that Tatum gets the ball late

Smart can't be a starting point guard

Joe can't coach

Jaylen is leaving

notice how we didn't hear any of that shit all year? So, if the Celts don't want this stuff to be a distraction, kill it by performing on the court. It's literally that simple. Not only do you end the drama, but you also increase the chances of people wanting to stay because you're winning at a high level, and if this team plays to their potential that level is a fucking NBA title.

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters right now is the quest for a title. Take care of your business on the court and the rest will fall into place.