Jayson Tatum agrees to $195.6 million extension with the Boston Celtics

As expected, Celtics star Jayson Tatum has agreed to a super max extension to remain in Boston. The extension will begin with the 2021-2022 season where Tatum will make $33.7 million and will escalate to $41.8 million for the fourth year (2024-2025). Tatum will have a Player Option for the 5th year of $44.5 million. Please no one say, "Well there's now way he will walk away from $44.5 million." Just assume it's a 4 year deal. The 5th year for max contracts is just there as a perk for stars in case they have a carer ending or altering injury. They almost always decline them. See Irving, Kyrie, Horford, Al, and Hayward, Gordon. With that said, Boston will have Tatum in Celtics green through the 2024-2025 season, which is great news.

Congrats to Tatum who bounced back from a speed bump of a sophomore year to take his game to the next level this past season. The Celtics are expecting Tatum to take his game even further. Tatum benefitted a good deal from making the All-NBA team this past season as it bumped his max contract up to a potential super max contract. I'm sure the Celtics front office privately would have preferred if Tatum was snubbed and didn't make an All-NBA team this past season, but if the worst thing you can complain about is your draftee got good too soon so we have now have less available cap space for other players, well you're doing pretty good in life.

Tatum will be up for an even larger payday in 2025 when he will still be only 27 years old. Let's hope that Tatum continues on his trajectory, so that whatever obscene amount of millions he pulls in then from Boston will be met with the same joy that Celtics fans are feeling today.