Jaylen Brown had another phenomenal season, but he was unfortunately not rewarded for it with an All Star berth, but for the Celtics that might not be such a bad thing.
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Brown and the Celtics are back in the Conference Championship and are deadlocked in a weird series with the Miami Heat. The Eastern Conference Finals is tied 2-2 with three out of the four games being massive blowouts.
The Celtics seemed to have lost momentum of the series after losing a hard fought game three despite the Heat not having Jimmy Butler for a good majority of that game, but they bounced back well in game four.
They jumped out to a fast start on defense, holding the Heat to without a made field goal until 3:21 remaining in the first quarter. From there, they never looked back. Brown himself had a quiet game, only putting up 12 points, 2 assists, and seven rebounds, but he didn’t need to do much more.
Celtics can actually capitalize on Jaylen Brown not making the All Star game
Brown has had some great seasons for the Celtics after being picked third overall in the 2016 draft. He started to blossom in his fourth year in the league.
Since the 2019-20 season, Brown has been a consistent 20 ppg scorer, setting a career high in 2020-21 with 24.7. He was also named an All Star that year.
Many felt like Brown was deserving of an All Star berth this year too, but ultimately Brown was left off the team. The Celtics guard Tweeted this out after the decision was made:
However, the Celtics may stand to benefit from this. Of course, they would have rather had Brown make the All Star game, but they can still capitalize now that he hasn’t.
Brown had a $1.4 million bonus in his contract if he made the game, but since he didn’t the Celtics don’t have to spend that money which would have pushed them over the luxury tax.
As per Forbes, “Here’s the deal from the accounting side of things: Brown’s contract would give him a $1.4 million bonus if he were selected for this year’s All-Star Game. (He received a similar amount for his appearance in last year’s game.) If the Celtics were on the hook for this bonus, it would leave them less than a million over the luxury tax line, something which would affect how they’re approaching other teams.”
So, yes, there’s a world where this all works out. Brown will continue to develop his game, and there’s a solid chance he makes the game next year, but for now, the Celtics can work with the extra cash.
