The NBA season will end tonight if the Boston Celtics can close out the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 at home.
Regardless of the outcome, Celtics star Jayson Tatum is poised to make NBA history.
“Once these NBA Finals are over, the teams are now allowed to start negotiating contract extensions and negotiating with their own free agents which means that the Celtics will soon present Jayson Tatum with the largest contract extension in NBA history; a five-year, $315 million extension,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on “NBA Countdown” on June 17.
“After this season, once he lands that $315 million deal, he’ll eclipse the deal his teammate Jaylen Brown signed a year ago [what was] for about $30 million less.”
Brown is narrowly edging out Tatum in scoring during the Finals.
He also has the edge in steals and blocks. Tatum, however, has the advantage in assists, rebounds, and three-point efficiency, though neither has shot the ball well during the series to this point.
Tatum also has the edge in those categories and scoring for the entire postseason. Those metrics and what it could be for him individually are not his main focus.
Jayson Tatum’s Agent: Winning NBA Title the ‘Only Thing’ Celtics Star Has Talked About
“I talked to his agent, Joe Wexler, earlier today,” Wojanrowski said. “Interestingly enough, he says he and Tatum have not discussed the elements of that deal all season. He says Tatum hasn’t talked about postseason MVP awards. The only thing he’s talked about is winning a championship.”
Tatum has been in the postseason every year of his career. This is his second NBA Finals appearance. But there is something to gain for the organization that goes beyond this one potential title.
Winning this series would break the tie between the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
Both franchises have 17, with the Lakers winning most recently, securing the championship during the Orlando bubble.
That gridlock has unsurprisingly brought out some unlikely fans for the Mavericks in the series: former Lakers.
“I don’t want to have to face Cedric Maxwell if Boston gets to 18 before us,” former Laker Mychal Thompson said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on June 14. “It will be insufferable for me to sit through that for three hours dealing with his ‘I told you so’s.’ I’m going to have to call in sick for the two Boston games next year if they hold on and win this series.”
Celtics Have History, Kristaps Porzingis on Their Side
The Celtics have history on their side with no teams ever overcoming a 3-0 deficit in NBA Finals history. Teams in that situation are 156-0, per Land Of Basketball. The Celtics will also have Kristaps Porzingis available, per Head Coach Joe Mazzulla.
Porzingis changed the Celtics’ outlook when he returned for Game 1.
His absence in Game 4 – despite being made available if necessary – was even more obvious with the Mavericks outscoring the Celtics 60-26 in the paint.
If the Celtics are able to clean that up and knock down their open looks, they could put an end to this series, overtake the Lakers, and move on to their other pressing business like Tatum’s historic contract extension.
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