As great a player as Jaylen Brown is and was for the Celtics, he was not without flaws. One of the biggest things holding him back from joining the ranks of the truly elite was his lack of ball security. Yes, he carried a large burden last season for Boston with Jayson Tatum out, but he also led the league in turnovers with 259 committed over his 71 games played in the regular season.
He followed that up with another 25 turnovers in the playoffs. That was tied for the 19th most in the league, which doesn’t sound terrible until you consider the fact that the Celtics lost in the first round and JB only played in seven playoff games last season.
He has improved tremendously throughout his career, but to be a lead initiator, he’s simply still too loose with his dribble and passing. He also has developed an ugly habit of pushing the defender away with his off-arm, which felt like a point of emphasis that the officials were really cracking down on last season.
Combine the costly live-ball turnovers, which often lead to easy transition baskets, with the glut of back-breaking offensive fouls this season, and Brown simply wasn’t helping Boston in their quest to maximize possessions.
Jaylen Brown wasn’t a turnover creator on defense
And to compound all of the turnovers committed, Brown also wasn’t creating very many on the other end. We all know JB can lock down his man with the best of them, but he only had 72 steals last season, and he’s not much of a disruptor when he’s not on the ball. The off-ball defense has always been a bit of an issue for JB, and it hurt the defense.
He wasn’t getting in the passing lanes or making plays to generate easy looks for his team on the other end with any regularity, and that was a problem for Boston. As good as they were at protecting the ball, they were almost equally as bad at taking it away.
Brown wasn't helping Celtics with possession-maxing
Even with Brown leading the league in turnovers, the Celtics committed the fewest turnovers in the league per game, which is a pretty incredible accomplishment. But on the other end, they were a measly 29th in turnovers forced per game. When your whole style and scheme are predicated on winning these margins, that’s just not good enough.
Brown isn’t the sole reason for these issues, but obviously Brad Stevens and company decided that they are leaning into this Joe Mazzulla, possession-maxing identity. Getting rid of their most turnover-prone player, who also doesn’t force turnovers, should help them get closer to mastering Mazzulla-Ball, and that’s clearly what the organization wants.
Now, guys like Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Paul George, and Derrick White will be controlling the ball much more, and those are guys who have great security. Meanwhile, there will be more minutes for the defensive hawks who force turnovers, like Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, and others. It’s a massive shift, and one that may seem a bit perplexing on the surface, but when you break it down like this, it actually makes a lot of sense and feels like a worthwhile gamble that should pretty easily pay off.
Add us as a preferred source on Google