Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown has been putting in work this offseason. While Brown has enjoyed much success in his early years in the league, it is the little details and skills that could set him up to be a potential All-Star in 2018.
[Editor’s Note: Over the past week at Hardwood Houdini, we’ve been detailing three improvements each Boston Celtics player can make to set the team up for success this season. Today, we take a look at what Celtics fans hope Brown has worked on in the offseason, and what he’ll bring to the game in 2018. Here are the previous installments in our improvement series:
Can Guerschon Yabusele earn his role with Boston?
Will Aron Baynes build on postseason 3-point shooting?
How Terry Rozier can hone his point guard skills
How Marcus Smart can become a Sixth Man of the Year
Why Semi Ojeleye just needs to regain his confidence]
Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown is, without a doubt, one of the most talented young forwards in the NBA today.
His talent on the court is indisputable. He soars above his peers in terms of athletic ability as well as basketball intellect. The junior guard certainly exerted his presence in the postseason, where he averaged 20 points and 5 rebounds per game in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals,
And while his overall game may be exciting, there are a few aspects of Brown’s game that could turn him from two-way star to NBA All-Star.
With that being said, let’s dive in to the three aspects Celtics fans hope Brown worked on this summer.
1) Free throw shooting: Brown’s Achilles Heel
Brown’s game is complete in a variety of different facets. His all-around talent has garnered the attention of stars throughout the association, including LeBron James.
“He’s a really good talent, and that’s why he was drafted so high,” James told reporters. “He’s a strong kid, you can see he knows how to play the game. Looks like Boston is really enjoying all the picks they’re getting from the [Brooklyn] Nets the past few years.”
The Celtics have certainly come a long way since the days when those picks were made. Brown himself has helped the team come back into relevance in the NBA.
There has been, however, an element of his game that has left Celtic fans ripping hair off their heads: free throw shooting.
During his rookie year, Brown shot 69 percent on free throws, getting to the line two times per game. As with any player, there are things that will not be perfect the moment you step foot in the league.
For some guys, this may involve becoming more aggressive on the offensive end, sticking to their match-ups on defense, or even communicating more when they’re on the court.
For Brown however, free throw shooting has never truly improved.
In a season that saw him grow on a number of different parts of his game (including three point percentage, points per game, and even rebounding), Brown managed to shoot an even worse percentage from the line (64 percent to be exact).
While Celtics fans are no doubt thrilled about the overall growth from Jaylen’s game, one of the pivotal aspects that separates Brown from a player like DeMar DeRozan is their ability to get to the line consistently and knock down their free throws.
Brown has developed a knack for getting to the free throw line, attempting more free throws per game than all his teammates last season besides Kyrie Irving. Because of his ability to get to the line, it’s doubly important for him to shoot a high percentage from the charity stripe.
What you can or cannot do is in your head
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) September 19, 2018
DeRozan is an All-Star caliber player who thrives on drawing contact when he drives to the basket. But his all-around game, does not come close to what Brown brings to the table.
Brown’s ability to affect both sides of the ball is something that already sets him apart from other young forwards in the league. Couple that with increased efficiency from the three-point line, and you get a guy that most NBA general managers would drool over.
Assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry has raved about Brown’s dedication and mentality to get better every day.
"“He just loves being in the gym, which is a trait that you see in real good players,” said Shrewsberry. “He wants to get better, he wants to continue to work, and if you introduce him to something new, he really attacks it and goes after it and tries to add that to his game. “[But] he has a lot more going on within games now. He’s a primary defender, he’s scoring a little bit more, and you’ve just gotta kind of decompress from all of that for a second and really just focus on the task at hand for those two free throws.”"
2) Isolation scoring: Taking advantage of personnel
Celtics fans saw a great deal of isolation scoring in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, albeit it wasn’t their team doing most of the isolation.
LeBron James ripped the Celtic defense apart in a Game 7 that many thought would swing Boston’s way. Once again, James reminded everyone around the league that it takes special one-on-one talent to win at the highest of levels.
Jaylen Brown has also recently emerged as one of the Celtics premiere offensive threats.
Due to his increased responsibilities last year as a starter due to Gordon Hayward‘s injury, Brown has evolved into a player that can knock down open threes, slash to the rim with authority, as well as provide lock-down defense when necessary.
One thing that would be adding a new dimension to his game would be one-on-one scoring in an efficient manner.
Take a look at the video above. The Celtics were set in a regular season match-up against the defending champions in the Golden State Warriors, and the team had fallen into a hole early on in the second half.
With his team down 66-49 with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, Brown unleashed a bevy of different moves to help cut the deficit.
In his first play of the sequence, Brown goes on-on-one against a serviceable defender in Shaun Livingston. Livingston, a 6-foot-7, 190-pound guard, is more than up to the task of defending him.
Brown begins with a triple-threat position from the right wing, and later drives hard into the middle, forcing Livingston to react accordingly in order to respect his slashing capabilities.
Jaylen notes this, and moves into a crossover that leaves notable space between him and his defender, allowing him to rise for a mid-range jumper which he casually knocks down.
On the ensuing offensive possession for Boston, Brown leaks out in transition and casually knocks down a three-point bomb in front of Kevin Durant to continue to chip into the lead.
If Brown can continue to improve his isolation scoring opportunities, Boston’s two young forwards in Brown and Tatum will be terrors in any aspect of the game.
3) Mental Fortitude – When the intangibles come into play
Jaylen Brown’s god-given physical gifts are a major reason for his increased production in his second year in the league.
With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward both missing significant time in the regular season as well as the playoffs, Brown and Tatum both had to step up and lead a team back to the Eastern Conference Finals through relentless physical play on both ends of the floor.
Throughout the series versus the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, Brown averaged 21 ppg, 5 rpg, and shot over 40 percent from beyond the three-point line. His production was often times in the 20-point range, but it was the few games where he faltered that hurt the Celtics the most.
In a pivotal Game 7 that saw LeBron James take over offensively, Brown produced just 13 points on 28 percent shooting from the field.
While mental fortitude is something that can only be strengthened with more experience in the game, Brown’s workouts with legendary guard Tracy McGrady could have only helped further shape his mental toughness.
If the Celtics are to go back to the NBA Finals this year, Brown will have had to make major improvements in these areas in order to give his team the best possibility to compete against the likes of the Golden State Warriors.