Boston locking up its young superstar has turned out to be a smarter investment than even they could have known — Boardroom takes a look at the details of the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum contract.
One of the landmark moments for an NBA player is earning that first rookie extension, and after being drafted third overall in 2017, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has proven to be one of the best young players in the Association. Just before the 2021-22 season, Tatum and the Celtics agreed to a 25% rookie max extension of five years and $163 million; the phenom immediately took a major personal leap, helping to guide the team through a tumultuous first half of the campaign straight into the NBA Finals before ultimately falling to the Golden State Warriors in six games.
Tatum, along with longtime teammates Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, will be expected to level up once again in 2022-23. The Celtics are dealing with the fallout of head coach Ime Udoka’s personal misdeeds within the organization and the one-year suspension that went along with it — with interim coach Joe Mazzulla now seated in the big chair for the first time, early-season struggles could return to the TD Garden.
And perhaps that’s just another opportunity for lucky No. 0 to prove his value even further.
With that in mind, Boardroom takes a look at the finer details of the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum contract extension.
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Jayson Tatum Contract Details & Salary
All dollar figures via Spotrac.
Years: 5 (fifth year is player option)
Total value: $163,000,000
Average annual value: $32,600,000
Free agency: 2025 or 2026
Annual contract extension salary earnings:
2021-22: $28,103,500
2022-23: $30,351,790
2023-24: $32,600,060
2024-25: $34,848,340
2025-26: $37,096,620 (player option)
In 2021-22, Tatum averaged nearly 27 points per game for the Celtics leading them to the No. 2 seed in the East. His current contract, as healthy as it is, ranks just No. 27 in the league by total value and No. 37 by average annual value, making him an absolute steal in light of his elite-tier production on the court.
All told, Tatum truly has a ton of deep playoff experience despite still not quite being 25 years of age. In rookie season, he went toe-to-toe with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, losing to them in seven games. Now, he’s coming off his best season to date, earning his third straight All-Star appearance and First Team All-NBA honors. Interestingly, if that All-NBA selection had come one season earlier, Tatum’s contract would have blossomed from 25% of the cap per year to the full 30% rookie max deal worth $196 million under the so-called “Derrick Rose Rule.”
Call it an oddity of the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Call it arbirtray. Unfair. But nevertheless, Tatum status as a true-blue superstar puts himn very much in play for a 35% “supermax” deal as early as summer 2024.
Jayson Tatum’s Career Earnings
TOTAL NBA SALARY EARNINGS THRU 2022-23: $88,039,225
ESTIMATED SALARY EARNINGS THRU 2023-24: $192,584,245
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