CelticsBlog exit interview: Jaylen Brown

Final offseason was a dream for Jaylen Brown.

A Finals (and Convention Finals) MVP, Brown silenced considerations that he and Jayson Tatum might collectively be the faces of a Banner 18 run. Then, except for an outspoken conflict with Nike and USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill, the excellent news saved on rolling.

Brown debuted his personal signature shoe model, collaborated with A$AP Ferg to drop a track known as “Simply Do It,” and began the inspiration Boston XChange.

Expectations had been excessive coming into this season, each for JB individually and for the crew’s quest to interrupt the 6-year drought of getting a repeat champion. These expectations had been wiped away due to mounting accidents, poor capturing and a number of late-game collapses to the New York Knicks, including one more yr to the streak of a brand new NBA champion.

Brown’s Finals follow-up was removed from good, but in addition removed from a disappointment. For a 3rd straight season, Brown earned an All-Star nod, nevertheless it got here in a yr the place he shot the bottom 3-point effectivity of his profession (32% on 5.7 makes an attempt) and had the second lowest eFG% (51.5%) that was simply forward of his rookie season.

Brown’s mid-range recreation has additionally seen a slight decline in effectiveness since he transformed on 47% of these seems to be within the 2022-23 season, however his 40% effectivity this yr was his lowest for the reason that 2018-19 marketing campaign when he got here off the bench. In non-restricted space paint scoring, Brown nonetheless transformed at a decent 44.7% of his 295 makes an attempt, nevertheless it was once more a step down from final yr’s unimaginable total manufacturing, when he transformed on 52% of those self same seems to be on 264 makes an attempt.

That could be quite a lot of detrimental big-picture parts to his season, however Brown was nonetheless, regardless of that, able to placing up a stunning scoring efficiency, ending with 9 video games of 30+ factors. Solely a kind of scoring outbursts noticed him shoot under 50%. One of the best of the bunch was a 44-point gem in opposition to the Pacers on Dec. 27, a recreation which got here throughout an early-season tough patch for the Celtics. His 44 factors was the fourth highest level complete in his profession, and he transformed on 16/24 shot makes an attempt, nailed six 3-pointers and hit all six free throw makes an attempt in the course of the win.

Scoring manufacturing might have taken a step again, however different areas of Brown’s recreation improved. After a rocky 2024 season from the free throw line, Brown elevated makes an attempt on the line from 4.3 to five.1 makes an attempt per night time and hit them at a 76% clip, which aligns nearer to his manufacturing from 2020-2023.

Essentially the most important leap got here from Brown’s playmaking. Brown’s 4.5 assists per recreation had been the very best in his profession, all whereas conserving turnovers right down to a modest 2.6 per night time, only a slight uptick from final season (2.4). With the gravity and repute as a play-finisher, Brown used that to his benefit, attacking collapsing defenses with kickouts, massive man layoffs and put up skip passes.

Previous to this season, Brown had simply 13 video games in his common season profession the place he recorded 8 or extra assists. He had seven such video games this yr, together with a nine-assist efficiency in opposition to the Pistons on Dec. 4.

What many will bear in mind about Brown’s most up-to-date marketing campaign is the postseason grit he confirmed. Brown performed 36.5 minutes in 11 playoff video games on {a partially} torn proper meniscus. The quickness and lack of liftoff was noticeable in the course of the run, and within the video games main as much as the playoffs, however Brown hardly complained, placing up a robust sequence in opposition to a bodily Orlando crew that was headlined by a 36-point masterpiece in Sport 2 with Jayson Tatum out with an injured wrist.

For the primary spherical, Brown shot 49% from the sector, 44% from three and 84% from the road.

The Knicks sequence was a special story, each for Brown and his fellow starters. His capturing splits dropped to 40/29/68 with 4 turnovers a recreation.

When Tatum went down along with his Achilles damage, Brown did play a key position within the crew’s impressed Sport 5 efficiency, pulling down 9/17 pictures for 26 factors and 12 assists, which might be his career-high each within the common season and playoffs for his profession.

That recreation additionally featured a single second that defines the hassle Brown put in in the course of the postseason. Simply over a minute into the second half, Brown fought over a Josh Hart display, stripped Jalen Brunson clear, then laid out towards the Boston bench to maintain the ball inbounds earlier than leaping up, re-entering the motion on the opposite finish, and incomes a visit to the free throw line.

Once we look forward to this offseason, some robust selections will should be made, each to create cap flexibility and to retool the roster for Tatum’s return. The choice round Brown must be a straightforward one. With so many questions of who’s staying and who’s going, Brown’s tenth season (and past) ought to stay in Boston, the place he’ll have to determine the way to be the No. 1 choice for the primary time in his skilled profession.

The largest development space, his passing, will should be centerstage this upcoming season. His gravity as a scorer is plain, nevertheless it now takes a success with Tatum and presumably different key scoring choices off the ground. Which means extra eyes on Brown.

Even in a season that didn’t pan out because the smash-hit Hollywood blockbuster sequel to Banner 18, Brown went to warfare for Boston, similar to he stated he would on draft night time. He was additionally the one to maintain calm and look forward, regardless of the gloomy ending.

“This isn’t the tip,” he stated.

Dropping to NY might really feel like loss of life, however subsequent yr is a contemporary begin. When you may have guys like Brown that can go to warfare for his or her crew, and show it by way of their actions on the ground, the long run doesn’t look so gloomy.