You Could Make The Case That The Next Two Days Are Two Of The Most Important Days Of This Era Of Celtics Basketball

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How's everyone feeling today? Personally, I feel like I want to vomit every two seconds. I imagine this is a feeling that won't be going away any time soon, but that's just NBA Playoff basketball baby. When your favorite team finds themselves in a playoff battle, it consumes you. It's all I think about when I wake up, it's all I think about during the day, and it's all I think about when I put my head on my pillow and try to force myself to sleep only to see Jaylen Brown helping on the strong side shooter every time I close my eyes. 

Taking a step back, I'm not sure the masses or maybe non Celtics fans truly understand what these next two days mean for the future of this franchise and possibly this core. Tuesday and Wednesday could very go a long way in determining what we see in the immediate future, which is why I could make the case that these next two days are some of the most important days in this entire Jaylen Brown/Jayson Tatum era.

Allow me to explain.

It of course begins with tonight's Game 5

It shouldn't need too much explaining to understand why tonight is massive. The Celts goal is obviously to get back to the NBA Finals and win the title. It's been that way since June 17th, 2022. There is no Giannis spinzone here. Anything other than a title is a failure for this group. Those are the expectations they put on themselves and the standard they are held to. There's nothing wrong with that.

Winning Game 5 certainly helps them stay on that path. NBA History suggests the winner of Game 5 when a series is tied 2-2 goes on to win the series over 80% of the time. It's a game you definitely want to win for obvious reasons. Given how the rest of the playoff field looks, the Celts may never have as wide open of a chance to reach the top of the mountain as they do this season. Winning tonight is a huge step in that direction.

Now of course, last year we saw them lose Game 5 at home vs MIL and still win the series. They defied NBA history, so it of course is possible. I'll just say this. In playoff series that have the W/L pattern of BOS/PHI, if the home team loses Game 5, they have never won the series. Last year vs MIL was a different W/L order. Does that matter? Who knows. 

What I do know is if the Celt win today, it puts them in a great position to advance in a year where they have every chance of winning the whole thing. I'd say that makes tonight pretty important.

But let's not forget about what happens on Wednesday too, because when it comes to the future of this roster, that is a massive, massive day.

Tomorrow we learn the fate of Jaylen Brown and his quest to make an All NBA team. As a reminder, if he makes any of the 3 teams, Jaylen becomes eligible for the supermax extension. With the new CBA being agreed to, here's what you need to remember when it comes to Jaylen's next deal

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• Brown’s current potential max extension offer: Four years, $161 million
• Brown’s potential max extension offer with new CBA: Four years, $189 million (full 30 percent max of cap)
• Brown’s potential supermax extension offer (if he makes All-NBA): Five years, $290 million (35 percent of salary cap)

I won't try and predict or claim that I know what Jaylen is thinking or what he'll do moving forward, but what I do know is that no player in NBA history has turned down a supermax extension. Given the season Jaylen had and the playoffs he's currently having, I feel pretty confident that Wyc is going to fork over the supermax if he's able to, especially since they got Jaylen at a team friendly extension the last time around.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Jaylen won't sign the $189M extension that the Celts are now able to offer him early this summer if he doesn't make All NBA. Before the new CBA, they were only able to offer him that supermax early, now they can offer both (or one) depending on how the voting shakes out. For all we know he's cool with that and there's no problems.

The overall point is that come Wednesday night, we'll know what available options are truly on the table for this summer. If you're someone who is worried that Jaylen might be looking elsewhere, him making that All NBA team and being supermax eligible certainly should help calm your nerves. If he misses out on it, we then get to see how Jaylen truly feels. He'll either accept that max extension, or he'll enter the final year of his guaranteed deal before becoming an UFA, which certainly opens up another can of worms. 

At some point, every franchise has certain crossroad moments throughout various eras. Last year we saw the Celts navigate through a few during their journey of finally getting over the ECF hump with this core and making a Finals. Had they come up short against either MIL or MIA, who knows what happens. This year we are again at a similar type of crossroads, one involving the team goal and the other involving a franchise cornerstone player.

So yeah, Tuesday and Wednesday are pretty fucking important when you're talking about the future of the Boston Celtics. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go throw up for the 15th time this morning.