Let me start out by saying this argument isn’t a referendum on Jaylen Brown’s value as a player, at least in a vacuum. He’s a wonderful and deserving All-NBA talent, but that’s, unfortunately, only a piece of the picture. With the new collective bargaining agreement and its prohibitive second tax apron looming, the decision whether to pay Jaylen Brown a super max, which will begin around $50 million per year and end around $66 million, is much more complicated than “is he good enough to deserve it?” Again, without context, the answer is objectively yes. All-NBA second teamers are usually worth the super-max, but there's the rub:
The damaging nature of the new CBA
Whether or not Jaylen is good enough to deserve the supermax isn’t the question.