The Celtics have lined up another cheap piece of business, and this one could age very well.
On Thursday morning, Boston and Jordan Walsh agreed to a three-year, $16 million extension that will begin after this coming season. The Celtics had already exercised Walsh’s team option for $2.4 million, keeping him under contract for this year, and the last season of the new deal is another team option for 2029-2030.
Walsh is only 22, but he already gave Boston a real glimpse of what he can become last season. In his third year, he emerged as a defensive stopper, worked the glass with real bite, and hit more than 38% of his three-point tries. He also showed he could put the ball on the floor after a closeout, all while playing with the kind of nonstop energy coaches love.
That was his first season in the rotation, and the trajectory is obvious. Walsh was Boston’s best defender on Tyrese Maxey in the playoffs, and his responsibilities are only going to grow now that Jaylen Brown is in Philadelphia. If the offensive progress keeps coming, Walsh has the tools to become a highly valuable NBA wing: he can handle any wing spot, defend multiple positions, and bring length and athleticism every night.
He may never become a star, but that’s not really the point. The Celtics need him to grow into a star-level role player, and that’s a realistic path. In a league where wings who can both defend and shoot are hard to find, locking one up at this price for the next four seasons is a strong piece of business.
Walsh will make just over $18 million across those four seasons, while several wing players - including Patrick Williams, Grayson Allen, PJ Washington, Kyle Kuzma, Christian Braun, and others - will make more than $18 million in the 2026-27 season alone. That gap says plenty about how valuable the position is and how quickly this deal could look like a steal if Walsh keeps trending upward.
It also fits a pattern for Brad Stevens and the Celtics. Boston has repeatedly developed young players and signed them to team-friendly extensions, with Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser as recent examples, and Neemias Queta earlier this offseason.
After the Brown trade, Stevens talked about optionality and the importance of paying their own young players. So far, the Celtics have backed that up by staying under the luxury tax and getting extensions done for Queta and Walsh before July ends. The Brown deal will dominate the offseason conversation, but Boston has also quietly built a nice cushion of bargain contracts around useful players who can help the team or become trade assets.
Next up could be Payton Pritchard, who looks like the next candidate for a discount extension in the fall.
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Hugo Gonzalez, Dillon Mitchell and Chris Cenac Jr. all left Vegas with something to build on, but Gonzalez may have done the most to change his stock. His handle stood out in a way that suggests more than just wing skills, while Mitchells defensive versatility kept showing up in different spots and Cenac Jr. also drew a positive evaluation. For a team that always has to balance immediate contention with finding cheap, useful talent, that is the sort of summer progress worth watching closely once camp opens. [Read more 🡒]