A quirk in the NBA salary cap may cost Jaylen Brown $17 million and NBA history

Jaylen Brown's recently signed contract with the Boston Celtics seemed to guarantee him $300 million and elite status as the first player in NBA history to reach $300 million with a single contract ... or so we thought.

Unfortunately, there may be a hiccup that could cost Brown that status.

On Reddit, a user noticed something was off about Brown's deal when looking at the 2024-25 Spotrac projection for the NBA salary cap. There has been a slight change in the projection, and Brown is currently projected to make $286.23 million.

Though this doesn't change the terms of his contract, the reason the projections have changed is because of a quirk in the salary cap and how salaries are determined in the NBA.

The new agreement he signed last offseason does not kick in until the start of the 2024-25 season. His current deal allows him to make 35 percent of the salary cap next season, but that hadn't been pre-determined yet.

Salary cap quirk could cost Jaylen Brown $17 million

Back when Brown's deal was signed, the salary cap was projected to rise by 10 percent, which is the maximum amount of money the cap can rise. That would have brought the salary cap to roughly $150 million.

Had the Celtics star earned 35 percent, his salary for next season would have risen to just over $52 million. With an 8 percent raised of over $4 million, Brown's contract would have exceeded $300 million.

The NBA's new projection for next year's salary cap has it coming to $141 million, however, which is less than the maximum 10 percent increase. Because of this, Brown would receive slightly below $4 million in annual raises, and thus, $17.5 million is shaved off of what was initially reported for his contract.

This would certainly be a bad look for the NBA if the cap doesn't increase by the maximum 10 percent. Brown would have money taken away from the initial reported value of his contract, which ultimately would cost him a chance to max out at $300 million with his deal.

Time will tell if the NBA can get this resolved and guarantee Brown the full amount he may have been expecting. Due to the recent change, Brown is set to earn roughly $286 million over the life of his new contract.