Jayson Tatum, Celtics break the bank on record-breaking deal: Contract details, grade

The Boston Celtics will officially hang Banner 18 at the start of next season after a dominant NBA Finals run last month. We just witnessed one of the most successful single-season teams in league history,. At no point last season was there real doubt about who was the top dog in the East, or frankly, the entire NBA. The Celtics started hot, ended hot, and ran through the playoffs without much true resistance.

What it takes to keep a historically great team together, however, is a historically large payroll. Boston has five All-Star level dudes in the starting lineup and a reasonably competent bench considering the lack of resources at Brad Stevens' command in the front office. Al Horford is one of the best sixth men in basketball. It's not really fair.

Last summer, Jaylen Brown inked what was the largest contract in NBA history — a five-year, $304 million extension to reward his All-NBA output . There were jokes made at Brown's expense after his less-than-stellar postseason run, but the 27-year-old returned even better in 2023-24 and brought home the Finals MVP trophy in the end. That qualifies as an effective retort to the legions of faceless online haters screaming 'where's your left hand!?!' for a year.

Now, Brown's contract has been eclipsed... by his own teammate. Jayson Tatum, another All-NBA regular eligible for the supermax under the NBA's rising cap ceiling, has signed a five-year, $314 million contract to remain in Boston through the 2029-30 season, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. There's not much to say about it. The number — and the championship trophy — speak volumes.

Celtics' Jayson Tatum signs the largest contract in NBA history

There is really no way to criticize the Celtics here. Tatum is a top-10 player in the sport and the best player on a championship team at 26 years old. Others will surpass his historic benchmark in the years to come, but Tatum has fully earned the "largest contract in NBA history" mantle, for however long he holds it.

The Celtics don't have another choice here, lest they risk upsetting a franchise cornerstone and messing up a great relationship. It's the nature of the business. That said, it's fair to wonder how the heck Boston plans to keep all these expensive players under contract. The Tatum news was announced literal hours after Boston finalized a four-year, $125.9 million extension with Derrick White. That is a lot for Derrick White, and that comes from somebody who recognizes his utter brilliance as a Swiss Army Knife supreme.

Boston is now paying significant annual salaries to each of its five starters. Tatum ($62.8 milion), Brown ($60.8 million), White ($31.5 million), Jrue Holiday ($33.6 million), and Kristaps Porzingis ($30 million) is difficult to sustain under a restrictive new CBA. The Celtics are going to be a second apron team, limited in their ability to maneuver on the margins and eventually hammered by a repeater tax.

It's no coincidence that, after two decades, the Celtics' ownership group is trying to sell the team. Sure, it's nice to go out on top, but the Celtics' salary situation is about to get unwieldy. Porziginis' contract expires after the 2025-26 campaign. Al Horford is only signed through the end of next season. The castle is going to crumble eventually. It will take real dedication from current ownership and the next ownership group to navigate these turbulent financial waters without kneecapping Boston's competitive aspirations.

Those concerns won't set in for a while, though, and Tatum is the centerpiece. If the Celtics eventually shed salary, it will be to better balance a roster around Tatum. So, in that sense, there's only one logical grade here.

Jayson Tatum Contract Grade: A