The NBA Finals schedule is now complete, and the 2023 season has come to its end. With all of the talent and award winners out there, things ended in a way not befitting to what a lot of the media wanted. Jimmy Butler seemed to be more of a ‘darling’ than Nikola Jokic was. As he said only a few words and wanted to hang out with his horses more often. Nonetheless, Denver claimed the first title in their franchise history, and, like the Heat in ‘06, doing it on the first try.
Everyone wants to talk about the Jaylen Brown contract and what may come next for him. The NBA Finals MVP is not up for a supermax yet, whereas No.7 from Boston Celtics could get paid a whole lot. His game has some clear holes in it, as this postseason showed. And perhaps they may want to make a careful decision. It’s important they don’t overthink it, and if they feel like perhaps he has to be moved, then so be it.
So without further ado, let’s stop with the NBA Finals prediction (from this past season) and look forward to the 2023-24 season. To what Boston’s front office is going to be looking to do.
Astronomical Odds
In terms of the Jaylen Brown contract actually happening, the NBA odds are rather long. He is a -500 favorite to stay with the team. He is owed $28 million for next season as it is. And would not have the new extension kick in until the 2024-25 campaign. With the league recently reaching an agreement on a new bargaining deal, they will remain in play for the times to come. Boston has been to five of the past seven conference finals, with a large part of it coming from Brown’s success.
On the surface, JB had a fantastic campaign. He put up 27-6-4, and shot the ball at a pretty high level. He is a capable scorer, though his playmaking is still something that needs a lot of work. A lot of what he does well is how he plays with Jayson Tatum, the two of them making it tough for either to ever be double-teamed. But the biggest thing with Boston, and the most likely reason he stays around, is the revamped coaching staff around 34-year-old Joe Mazzulla.
Sure, he was far from perfect during his first playoff run. And yes, there were a lot of things he didn’t do all that well during the team’s unsuccessful efforts to win a title. But they added a few top assistants from other teams to help provide more stability. It was an extremely inexperienced staff, most of which ended up going to the Rockets to join former headman Ime Udoka anyway. With a better system in place, it will be better for Brown and the squad to stay together, and not make any crazy moves.
So, will the Jaylen Brown contract be signed? It should be.
Looking to Boston’s Future
Nobody expected the No.8 Miami Heat to go all the way to the NBA Finals, this year. They just barely survived the Bulls in the play-in, and as a result of that, had even more doubters than before. They were to face the Bucks in the opening round, owners of the best record in the league. And when Giannis got hurt early in the series, the advantage quickly shifted. Milwaukee dominated without him in game 2 to even the series, but everything went wrong after that.
Jimmy Butler averaged 38 per game. Miami won in 5. They then went on to beat New York in six. And following that, found a game 7 victory over the Celtics in order to avoid an epic meltdown. Philadelphia nearly had Boston, but could not eclipse them in the seventh game. The series ended with a surprise, and that’s how it went down. Jaylen and Tatum were supposed to lift Boston by Miami Heat. Even down 3-0, winning at the horn in game 6 should have given them some positivity.
It didn’t work. Make no mistake though. The future is very bright.
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