FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. reacts to Jayson Tatum and Boston Celtics reach largest deal in NBA history

FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. reacts to Jayson Tatum and Boston Celtics reach largest deal in NBA history

oh this is very very tricky because I really think we should be more so focusing on the Celtics Duo Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown both playing top 10 basketball basically where we saw in the NBA Finals having two of the top 10 players in the NBA no other team had a Duo like that to finish the season I did vote Jason Tatum First Team all NBA but here’s my list okay so if we’re going to go top five right Nika yic obviously Mr triple double Luca donic who led the league in scoring at 34 points per game Giannis onto DMO who averaged 30 on 60% shooting I know there was a lot of criticism in Milwaukee but still those numbers are insane from Giannis SGA has to be in the mix one of the most efficient guards and then that leaves a final spot that is up for grabs and I think it’s very difficult because Jason Tatum right now based off of how we finished I think he takes a lot of criticism but his consistency needs to be respected in the postseason I believe average 259 and six uh in the regular season 27 and 8 and some people don’t really understand that he was asked to do more with less because of the talent that surrounded him adding Chris porzingis who I have called from day one a huge exactor so much to the point that I think other people other teams are looking for their own version of stretch bigs that’s why we’re talking about L marinin A Lot in the NBA especially with teams trying to improve you’ve got Drew holiday that helped out a lot Derek white who continues to take steps of improvement so Jason Tatum had to be Mr consistency which he was in the regular season and then try to fulfill the expectations of the world trying to be that guy in the postseason where we saw there were some lows but still he was consistent and I do think that Jaylen Brown’s surge as Finals MVP Eastern Conference Finals MVP confuses the the um importance of Jason Tatum to the Celtics Squad the only caveat I had the only thing that can make Tatum out of to me is the Joel embiid Factor Joel embiid average 34 but only played 39 regular season games so if you have to take one person off if Joel embiid was healthy then maybe you’d say okay I’m not sure if Jason Tatum is in the mix based off of those other guys that I mentioned so overall yes where we finish the season top five and I do think that the confidence he built from winning a championship will solidify that for the Celtics in the years to come well that’s what puts him in front right now is the championship I’ve got the same four in front I’ve got Luca actually slightly in front of jic right now but other than that exact same order and embiid is just completely unguardable when he is on the floor I think there are a couple of things here that work against Tatum and unjustifiably at this point we’re going to look at the finals you’re going to look well he didn’t go nuts in terms of scoring every game he didn’t carry the team he had 30 plus twice and then he’s in the teens but what is he doing he’s doing everything else that his team needs for him to for them to win the game his for him to for them to win the game his assist numbers are way up they’re double digits in a couple of games in the finals Jason Tatum in the finals is doing everything possible and everything required in the moment to help his team win what else works against all right those numbers may not be gudy in terms of the scoring he’s got Jaylen brown with him and we had a little inflection point there of when Jaylen Brown won the Conference Finals m VP of everybody kind of saying hey you know look he’s got this player with him too and then you look at Tatum and what the perception is publicly besides having brown with him the MVP voting he never finished higher than fourth you know there was a a time was talked about a little bit middle of this season but he is not the first guy that comes to mind because of the situation that he’s in in Boston I feel like it’s unfair and there’s still going to be in him now that he’s won a championship didn’t score enough didn’t carry the team and oh by the way he’s now going to have the $314 million tag on him as well how is this guy the highest paid player in the league I feel like it’s all unfair to tr him yeah crazy to think about all right welcome back to First Take coming to you live from the sea port brought to you by Chase the Celtics ownership group wasted no time putting up the four sale sign after the team’s Championship the group announced that it’s selling after a majority stake after purchasing the team for $360 million in 20 or 2002 excuse me but that hasn’t stopped the Celtics from resigning their key players Derek white agreed to a 4-year $126 million contract extension on Monday locking down one of the League’s best defenders and of course the team made sure to bring back Jason Tatum his 5-year $314 million extension surpasses teammate Jaylen Brown’s $285 million deal from last offseason for the largest in NBA history Wendy is here CH is here and of course Chris Carin here Wendy what can you tell us more about the Celtics being for sale this is uh certainly the billionaire class and the investment bankers reacted big time to this news coming out yesterday and by the way it was not a coincidence that this was announced the same day that Jason Tatum and Derrick White were locked down assuring that the Celtics front uh front line their starters are now all locked down for years into the future so here’s the thing this is a fascinating moment because what Wick grbach the owner of the Celtics the controlling owner wants to do is he wants to sell the team uh but not actually give up control of the team for another four years now how how do you do that and why would you do that well here’s why because the starting lineup starting next season not this season that we’re in now we’re now a functionally in the 2024 25 season starting in the 2025 26 Season the Celtics starting lineup just that year will make $200 million next year the Celtics in salary and luxury tax are faced with about a $500 million bill they are going to be losing absolute gobs of money so what Wick russbach wants to do is he wants to sell the team get money for the team then have the new owner pay all of the losses for the next four years while they’re potentially winning more championships while he gets to still run the show and accept the trophies now if you’re excited about buying something like that uh call Wick grbach he’s listening to offers uh I but I will say this the Celtics are one of the Prime Assets in sports in the world probably a top 10 property in the world maybe a top five property in America so when you have an asset like that that has that kind of value um under those terms I’m not sure he’s going to maximize the sale but I would expect that this sale would smash all the existing records for the purchase of a of a sports franchise in the world that’s how valuable the Celtics are right now I just don’t know if those terms are that is a wild set of AD so look you could only get what you ask for with grbach did not become rich by you know looking for deals that didn’t favor him but I got to say that that statement was a Whopper what he’s asking for in the in the new yeah that’s crazy I I Carlin told me during the commercial break he was thinking about buying them all right let’s Circle back to Tatum who will now be the best paid player in the league tday do you fore for for speech fore for e e for don’t

FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. reacts to Jayson Tatum and Boston Celtics reach largest deal in NBA history