How Has Jaylen Brown Fared as Celtics Top Option?

The early returns on a team led by Jaylen Brown resemble what we could’ve expected from a team led by Jaylen Brown.

That’s to say Brown’s productivity didn’t change drastically through 11 games without Jayson Tatum and the departing championship cast. Aside from an uptick in scoring volume, 28.0 points per game, 10th among NBA scorers (third in total), he’s also grabbing 4.9 rebounds and serving 3.9 assists per game, numbers in line with what he produced last year. His turnovers saw a slight bump from 2.6 to 3.6, while his shooting efficiency leaped from 46.3% to 52.2% despite taking nearly three more attempts per game. He’s been Jaylen Brown.

“I don’t think he would label it a new role or more pressure,” Joe Mazzulla said earlier this month. “I think that’s what outside people are saying. He’s not saying that. He’s saying I have to play my game and do what the team needs to me to do to win. So that’s just not how he operates. He operates doing what the team needs. Some of the changes that we made have played to his strengths as far as the pace offensively and the defensive activity. You’re seeing him reaping the benefits of that efficiency. He’s getting to his spots, he’s making the right play and he’s competing defensively.”

Brown’s game also presented a duality between the stellar scoring, efficient shooting and powerful approach that undoubtedly unlocks areas on the court not tapped into alongside less than stellar advanced numbers. The Celtics post a -3.4 net rating with Brown on the floor this season due to a high defensive rating (119.4). Offensively, he’s fared surprisingly poor in transition (0.95 PPP, 28th percentile) leading a unit that’s struggled to consistently play faster. In the half court, he’s thriving (74th percentile), with excellent pick-and-roll, isolation and spot up numbers. Brown’s shooting 35.9% from three, his highest mark there since 2020-21.

There’s little question about his prowess as one of the league’s most efficient scorers, even while garnering the full attention of defenses. His own defensive numbers fare well, allowing only 30% FG to spot up shooters, defending well around screens and taking on some post matchups. So that leaves the play-making as the source of his analytical struggles. With 43 assists and 40 turnovers, his ratio doesn’t speak well to how he’s facilitated. But he hasn’t primarily handled that role, ranking third behind Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, who have contributed 56 assists each with only 29 combined giveaways. Brown balanced aggressive scoring early with getting others involved.

“Every game is gonna be different,” Brown said after opening night. “You gotta get a feel for it as we continue to go on … we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well … but I believe in my guys. We had a lot of open looks right on the numbers and we missed them. We’re looking forward to that, shoot them with confidence and we’re looking forward to the next one … it is a balance, but we’ll figure out more as the season goes on.”

While Brown ranks third in assist on the team, his secondary assists (0.8) rank first alongside his assists per passes thrown. The five three-point shooters who primarily surround him on the floor went 23-for-62 (37%) to begin the year. By contrast, Brown finished 43% on passes from Pritchard and White. He fared better playing around Neemias Queta’s screening actions (10-13 FG) or catching a quick pass from Anfernee Simons into the half court with the second unit and going to work.

It’s not a complicated picture to paint. Brown drew defensive attention, used it to manipulate space for others by attacking the defense head-on sometimes, and got himself into trouble doing it. But that aggression got him to the free throw line more often than any teammate on a team starving for attempts there, vaulted him to the 93rd percentile of finishers at the rim to begin this year and created points on 75.2% of his drives. If that comes at the price of an extra turnover on the team committing the second-fewest in the league, Mazzulla seems willing to accept it.

Brown also carries a feel for where he needs to operate on the floor to remain efficient. A hot three-point shooting start to the year faded between the Rockets and Jazz losses with 0-for-11 shooting. So he put his head down and attempted 59 of his next 73 attempts from two, and converted them at a 57.6% efficiency. It’s no longer about proving himself, he declared on media day, stressing that outside voices impact him less than in the past. More often, he’s talking about how to get teammates going, calling for more creative involvement of Simons on Sunday.

And through a preseason hamstring tweak and only two dunks that have followed since, his most important stat is in the games played category, which has allowed him to rank third in the league in total scoring: he’s played in all 11 games. Even a back-to-back where he appeared poised to rest after an 0-3 start.

“I believe in all our guys,” Brown said in Orlando. “Continue to empower everyone, even through their mistakes … taking steps forward, 5-6 is not ideal, but a lot of games, we could be 7-4 right now or whatever, so we just gotta keep going … we have to figure out how maximize everyone’s potential to whatever degree that is.”