Trading away Jaylen Brown seemed to contradict Brad Stevens' goal of adding rim pressure. But the Celtics aren't looking for brute force; they're building a drive-and-kick machine.
In Stevens’ end-of-year press conference, he seemed almost disturbed by how the Celtics played and emphasized the lack of rim pressure his offense created. I think naturally, that led people to think of someone who could get to the rim and finish around the basket. But by trading Jaylen Brown away, that seemed to fly in the face of what Brad was gunning for, as JB can attack and get to the cup with the best of them.
But the thing is, not all rim-pressure is created equal, and getting to the rim and finishing at the rim aren’t exactly the same thing either. When the Celtics offense is at its best, the team is driving and kicking, getting the defense into rotation, and generating wide-open shots for good shooters.
Pritchard and George thrive at passing off of drives
Brown was excellent at getting to the rim, but he was just an average finisher around the basket and wasn’t creating much off of his drives. For some contrast, Payton Pritchard had the second-highest assist percentage on drives in the NBA playoffs last season at 17.9%, while Paul George was ninth at 11.1%. Those guys aren’t exactly thought of as downhill forces who are getting to the rim often, but they can beat their man off the dribble, draw help, and set up their teammates for easy looks.
And that’s exactly what the Celtics want and need.
They have capable shooters and finishers all over the court; they just need players to put them in position to succeed. Add a healthy Jayson Tatum into the mix, and that’s three guys with excellent court vision who know how to manipulate a defense and can beat their man, beat a switch, or leverage a pick-and-roll advantage.
Celtics want to play like 'beautiful game' Spurs on offense
When Brown drove, the defense knew it was to score. He got a lot better at passing in recent years, but he was still most likely to go up with it, even if he was faced with multiple defenders crashing. It led to a lot of bad shots and turnovers, and not nearly enough easy looks.
Brown is far more explosive than Pritchard and George, but those guys will make the easy and correct play in a way that JB wouldn’t always. There was nothing like a Jaylen poster-dunk, sending a defender to the graveyard, but for every one of those, there were several missed layups, offensive fouls, and steals.
Celtics should be able to feast on easy shots
Those will go away, and instead we should see more kick-outs to guys like Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman in the corner, or dump-offs to slashers like Hugo Gonzalez and Jordan Walsh for uncontested dunks, or lobs to Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson, or even resets to Tatum or Derrick White to run a second-side action against a compromised defense.
And even when things break down, it's certainly not like Pritchard and George can't create for themselves and hit tough shots when they need to.
The point is, there are lots of options, and the Celtics excel when they lean into their strengths and create advantages against the defense. This team is built to do that more than ever, and while we may miss out on some highlight-reel dunks and absolute midrange masterclasses from Brown, we should get some very beautiful, highly efficient, and productive offense this season.
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