当杰伦·布朗和凯尔特人五年的合同以3.04亿美元出售时，互联网上的反应和你预料的一样——很大程度上，“哇，这对一个明星球员来说是一大笔钱，他甚至不是球队中最好的，更不用说在NBA了。”这份协议——一个赛季将近6100万美元，现在成为NBA历史上最大的合同——说明了一些多年来一直显而易见的事情。也就是说，在这一点上，我们处于这些球员收入的不同前沿，不仅增加了公众对明星表现的审查，也增加了对他们俱乐部的审查，他们有更多的工资帽方面的问题要考虑，有了一个全新的集体谈判协议。没有人会不同意26岁的布朗是一名出色的球员，他几乎可以在任何时候投篮，并在球场的另一端防守。他上赛季场均26.6分，6.9个篮板和3.5次助攻，因为波士顿离总决赛只有一场比赛了。尽管他是明星，但也很难否认两件事:布朗——这几年来一直如此——和杰森·塔图姆作为一个更全面的球员脱颖而出，即使他们两人有能力一起赢得总冠军。萨姆·纳瓦罗&solUSATODAYSports
鉴于后一种现实，布朗的交易可能是有史以来最大的一笔交易，这可能会让一些人感到不舒服。也许最好的思考方式是简单地给它贴上标签，同时也要意识到这种情况已经不是第一次出现了。例如，布拉德利·比尔去年夏天没有得到联盟历史上最大的合同，但只有联盟MVP尼古拉·约基奇的合同价值超过了比尔的5年2.51亿美元的协议，该协议还附有不得交易条款。在那之前，早在16年，控卫麦克·康利——他在职业生涯中从未参加过全明星赛——与灰熊队签订了一份为期五年、价值1.53亿美元的合同。然而，也许比明星的报酬更重要的是这些交易最终会如何进行。比尔的情况被颠覆了，在他的大合同一年后，陷入困境的华盛顿球队有了新的领导，促使大规模的名册改革。现在达米恩·利拉德想离开波特兰，就在一年前，他同意了一份价值1.22亿美元的两年延期合同。尽管凯文·杜兰特自己进入了四年合同的第一年，但他还是在去年夏天要求被交易。看看布朗的展示会很有趣。本赛季早些时候，在被提供给杜兰特后，他坦率地谈到了他对凯尔特人的信任问题。此外，如果波士顿在过去四年中三次在总决赛或西部决赛中失利后，继续落后于二人组，那么肯定会有越来越多的人要求更大的改变。
不管怎样，虽然布朗的合同可能达到了一个不同的门槛，但这只是今天繁荣的NBA的新常态。是的，看到像布朗这样的球员得到一份3亿美元的合同可能会很不和谐，但现实似乎不会很快发生。
原标题：
Jaylen Brown’s New Deal Reveals an Intriguing Truth About Today’s NBA
原文：
When Jaylen Brown and the Celtics reached a supermax extension Tuesday of five years for $304 million, reactions from the internet were about what you’d expect—largely, “Wowwwwww, that’s a ton of money for a star player who isn’t even the best on his team, let alone in the NBA.”
The agreement—which breaks down to almost $61 million a season in what now becomes the biggest contract in NBA history—illustrates something that’s been plainly clear for years now. Namely that we’re in a different frontier of what these players earn at this point, not only placing increased public scrutiny on stars to perform, but also on their clubs, who have more aspects of the salary cap to consider with a brand-new collective bargaining agreement in place.
No one would disagree with the premise that the 26-year-old Brown is a fantastic player, one who can get his own shot almost anytime he likes and defend on the other end of the floor. He averaged 26.6 points, 6.9 boards and 3.5 assists per night last season as Boston ended up a game away from reaching the Finals. For all his stardom, though, it’s also hard to deny two things: Brown has meaningful improvements to make with his ballhandling—something that’s been true for a few years now—and Jayson Tatum stands out as a more complete player, even if the two are capable of winning a championship together.
Sam Navarro&solUSA TODAY Sports
In light of that latter reality, it likely is jarring to some that Brown’s deal is the biggest ever. Perhaps the best way to think about it is to simply label it that way for now while also realizing that this is far from the first time this sort of situation has come up. Bradley Beal, for instance, didn’t quite net the biggest contract in league history last summer, but only league MVP Nikola Jokić had a deal worth more than Beal’s five-year, $251 million agreement, which also came with a no-trade clause. And well before that, back in ’16, point guard Mike Conley—who’d never made an All-Star game to that point in his career—pulled down a five-year, $153 million deal with the Grizzlies.
Yet perhaps more important than what the stars are paid is how these deals end up playing out. Beal’s situation was upended just one year into his sizable contract when the struggling Washington franchise got new leadership, prompting a huge roster overhaul. And now Damian Lillard wants out of Portland, just a year after agreeing to a two-year extension worth $122 million. And it’s not lost on anyone that Kevin Durant requested a trade from Brooklyn last summer despite entering his first year of a four-year contract himself.
Seeing how Brown’s unfolds will be interesting. He spoke earlier this season in candid terms about his trust issues with the Celtics after being offered in a proposal for Durant. Plus, there’s sure to be a growing drumbeat for a bigger change if Boston, after having fallen in the Finals or conference finals three out of the past four years, continues to come up short with the duo.
Either way, while Brown’s contract may have hit a different threshold, this is simply the new normal in today’s flush NBA. Yes, it might be totally jarring to see a player like Brown get a $300 million deal, but the reality of it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
