While no decision will be made in the immediate future, Jaylen Brown still turned some heads on Tuesday when it came to his long-term outlook with the Celtics.

The 26-year-old will be a free agent in 2024 as long as he doesn’t sign an extension with the team beforehand, which is unlikely as of now. The Celtics, pending CBA negotiations and Brown making an All-NBA team this season, can’t offer Brown a max contract until he hits free agency.

But Brown had a noncommittal answer when asked about his future with the Celtics in a recent article by The Ringer’s Logan Murdock. In the piece, Brown also talked about how he set up a three-way phone call with Boston President Brad Stevens and Jayson Tatum when his name was in trade rumors for Kevin Durant.

“I don’t know. As long as I’m needed. It’s not up to me,” Brown told The Ringer. “We’ll see how they feel about me over time and I feel about them over time. Hopefully, whatever it is, it makes sense. But I will stay where I’m wanted. I will stay where I’m needed and treated correct.”

After the Celtics’ blowout win over the Kings on Tuesday, Brown was asked about those recent comments and his future in Boston. Brown started off, per The Athletic’s Jay King, by saying he feels “great” because he’s on a 50-win team.

Brown added that “sometimes when people write articles they get taken out of context especially when writers have their own agendas or whatever,” King reported. He also said he’s thinking about clarifying some recent things, though he didn’t have anything to say Tuesday night.

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“Right now the only thing I want to clarify is that the Celtics need to play better and win games,” Brown said, according to King. “If I want to say something in the future about the kind of things that have been floating around I will. … I keep constant communication with my teammates and my organization and we’ve gotta have everybody on board if we want to do what we say we want to do.”

There is still some time before Brown hits free agency, but that could be something worth monitoring going forward for the Celtics. But Brown is seemingly in a solid spot as one of the faces of the franchise in Boston as he’s been an All-Star for two of the past three seasons. The C’s are also title contenders this season and their future seems to be set up well with Brown and Tatum leading the way.

But things can change fast in the NBA. Regardless, there’s also a chance Brown addresses those comments in the near future, as he said Tuesday.

THE CELTICS ARE still considered contenders by most in the Eastern Conference but they hardly looked like one of late leading up to Tuesday’s matchup with the Sacramento Kings. Boston had gone just 7-6 since the All-Star Break putting them in danger of falling behind the Bucks and 76ers in a tight playoff race for home court in the East playoffs.

Jaylen Brown had been the one consistent performer over Boston’s past few weeks of ups and downs and his frustration with the team’s lack of consistency had shown after both wins and lows.

On the heels of Boston’s best performance in months in a 132-109 blowout win over the Kings on Tuesday night, Brown was thrilled with a return to this group’s early-season form.

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“That looked like the team I recognize” Brown told Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston after the victory. “We came out and played 48 minutes. We didn’t take our foot off the gas and we took care of business. Ended the road trip well and now we get back home and take care of business again.”

Brown finished with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the victory, his fifth straight game scoring 25 points or more. While Brown’s effort has been reliable, his fellow starters (109 combined points) also delivered against a Kings squad that has been on pace for the best offense in league history.

“Super important,” Brown said of the win. “We dropped a couple games on this trip that we probably shouldn’t have. Sacramento has been playing good basketball so we wanted to come in here and make a little bit of a statement.”

The victory gives Boston a 4-2 road trip and a one game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers for the two seed with just nine games remaining in the regular season. With six of those contests coming at home, Boston is well positioned to maintain homecourt over Philly through the second round if they came hold serve in the next three weeks.

Brown and the Celtics will look to continue that momentum on Friday night against the Pacers at TD Garden ahead of big two weeks of games that includes road showdowns against the Bucks and 76ers.


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