The Boston Celtics are off to a great start in part because of the massive growth of Jaylen Brown. Let’s take an analytical look at what he’s improved upon.
In the first 10 games of the season, Jaylen Brown has shown the league that he is a rising superstar for the Boston Celtics.
From a simple counting stats perspective, the fifth-year wing’s improvement over his career is clear. He has increased his points per game by at least six through each passing season, disregarding the 2018-2019 campaign.
This year was obviously difficult for many on the roster, with both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward trying to be integrated into an already successful 2018 playoff team.
Brown’s 2020-21 averages look like this: 26.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while carrying shooting splits of 54/42/77.
Every statistic would be an extreme improvement from previous years except for his rebounding.
Specifically, his previous career-high field goal and 3-point percentage were 48 percent and 39.5 percent, respectively. If he proves himself to be even close to the shooting splits he has shown in the first 10 games of the season, he has no holes in his offensive game.
His biggest offensive advancement so far this season is his automatic mid-range attack.
Last year in the 10-16 foot range, he shot 45 percent on 104 attempts.
From 16 feet to the 3 point line, he converted on 43 percent of his 81 attempts.
This season he is currently shooting 70 percent and 63 percent from these same distances.
That kind of efficiency from the mid-range is unheard of, especially for Brown, so don’t look for him to keep up that scorching pace. However, if he can keep his attempts from that range above even 50 percent, it will become a productive shot in an offense looking for buckets without Kemba Walker.
Brown’s overall usage in the offense has increased dramatically as well, likely due to Walker’s absence.
He currently holds 27.7 percent of the usage, up more than 4 percent from last year.
This number would put him in the 91st percentile for wings in the league, among the likes of Jimmy Butler (28.5), Joel Embiid (28.9), and Paul George (29.2).
So far this year, the offense has run through him and Jayson Tatum, who is currently sitting at a career-high of 30 percent usage of his own.
Furthermore, Brown also is supporting a career-high in points per 100 shot attempts (127.1).
This would put him in the 82nd percentile of wings and is a greater than 10 point increase from his previous career-high last season.
This number is very impressive for a player who does most of the work in the isolation mid-range, as this number should be higher the more threes a player attempts.
For example, Seth Curry leads wings in this statistic, scoring 158.1 points per 100 shots.
The other aspect of the 24-year-old that has improved immensely is his playmaking ability.
This year, he has a career-high in not only assists (3.5), but assist-percentage as well (17.6). The latter calculates the percentage of made baskets that the player has assisted on.
This number would put him at the 82nd percentile for wings, near his own teammate in Tatum (17.1).
Brown has showcased full-court bounce passes already this season, and has seemingly grown his overall court vision throughout his NBA career. He had never gotten an assist-percentage above 10 before, which would be below average for an All-Star wing.
While increasing the time he has the ball this season, he has turned the ball over at similar rates compared to previous seasons.
A turnover rate of 12.4 percent puts him in the 41st percentile of all wings in the league. This number isn’t great, but considering how much of the offense revolves around him, the Boston Celtics can live with it.
The next step for Brown and the Cs is to increase his free throw rate. Although his mid-range jumper has become lethal, he can also use his athleticism to drive to the rim against smaller defenders, as he is often on the court as an oversized shooting guard.
His free throw rate is 120th in the league, sitting at 22.5 percent. This is because he only averages about four free throw attempts per game compared to his 19.1 shot attempts.
There will be nights where he has trouble finding his shot from the mid-range or from deep, and he will need to look to drive to the basket to both get easy shots at the rim as well as foul calls to send him to the line.
Once he takes that next step in his increased offensive role, he can become a legit 30 point per game scorer in this league.
The Boston Celtics have to be happy with the growth that future All-Star has shown in the first 10 games of the season.
Already mentioned in some MVP chatter, 2020-21 could be the year Jaylen Brown finally gets his respect.
(all stats per Cleaning the Glass)