The Superstar Ascension of Jaylen Brown

[dannyboy35]

  I’m pretty excited at idea of maybe letting Jaylen try the role of top dog if he continues being so efficient but either way he looks to have taken a step. I love his quality of shots. Even more than the s or if numbers I’m looking at less than 2 turnovers a game ( that’s a great way to start) and about 3 and a half assists a game. I think with his improved ball handling his head is up snd he’s a willing passer.

[td450]

Also keep in mind that as he starts to show the skills that make for an all-NBA player, that he truly is a top 10 athlete in the NBA, and that athletic advantage makes him quite viable for plenty more improvement.

I will admit to being frustrated with how much more tightly controlled they have been with him than Tatum or even Smart, but now, that discipline is going to pay off. He got here with a no nonsense approach to offense. The ball doesn't stick. He is always attacking off of ball movement. He never competes with Tatum for touches. I expect this to reduces double teams and make things easier for Tatum, and that they both continue to produce more as the season progresses.

[cman88]

Jaylen Brown always had elite athleticism I think his biggest issue early on was his ball handling and shooting. It seems he's greatly improved at both where now he can use his elite athleticism to get by guys and finish at the rim or rise up for a shot

[Donoghus]

He's been the best player on the C's so far this season. 

He's in ridiculously awesome shape right now.  Looks great.  His confidence level is up there and the game seems to be slowing down for him. 

I think people who want to trade him in a package for Harden are absolutely nuts. 

[boscel33]

I never had doubts and was in the minority leading up to the 2016 draft and on draft night as thinking it was an excellent selection.

[tonydelk]

Brad ran a lot of action for him tonight. That might have been a defensive matchup exploitation move, I don't know, but Tatum passed it to him several times where he would ordinarily go to work.

Whatever the case, he was superstar material tonight...

I think Tatum recognized Brown had it going last night and kept feeding him until he'd either cool off or would just keep kitting those shots.  Well we all know the end result.  Kudos to JT as well for recognizing to feed his guy versus trying to either one up or get his own.  Good team work.

[Donoghus]

It was tongue in cheek but I got a good laugh

https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/1344466868115968002

[Phantom255x]

Remember when guys wanted Dragan Bender back then 

I think Brown is showing that he can absolutely be the true #2 on a championship team, and certainly on occasion in the regular season or early playoff rounds he can carry a team for stretches as a #1 if needed. The question is, can Tatum truly become the #1 on a championship team (hopefully being the Celtics).

Tatum's ceiling is higher, and I think what he needs to work on is making better decisions in crunch time. That's one thing about most superstar players in the league (Lebron, Giannis, etc.), they also tend to make the right decisions at the right time. Like honestly, I wish Tatum attacked the basket as opposed to milking the entire clock and shooting a fadeaway 3 when only down 1.

[moiso]

Remember when guys wanted Dragan Bender back then 

I think Brown is showing that he can absolutely be the true #2 on a championship team, and certainly on occasion in the regular season or early playoff rounds he can carry a team for stretches as a #1 if needed. The question is, can Tatum truly become the #1 on a championship team (hopefully being the Celtics).

Tatum's ceiling is higher, and I think what he needs to work on is making better decisions in crunch time. That's one thing about most superstar players in the league (Lebron, Giannis, etc.), they also tend to make the right decisions at the right time. Like honestly, I wish Tatum attacked the basket as opposed to milking the entire clock and shooting a fadeaway 3 when only down 1.

I'm starting to wonder if Brown's ceiling might be higher than Tatum's.  Brown's handle has gotten so good that he can get wherever he wants to on the court at pretty much any time.  Tatum can't.  That's why he takes so many fadeaway 3's at the end of games.  It seems like he is playing hero ball but he has a tough time just blowing by guys like Brown can do.  Sometimes the horrible 3's that Tatum takes are the best he can do under the circumstances that Stevens puts him in.  The improved ballhandling and pullup game of Brown this year has pretty much removed whatever ceiling that he had in my mind.  If he keeps improving at the rate that he has been for a couple more years,  there is no reason that we won't be looking at Brown in the way we look at the Kawhi's, Ginobilli's, Wade's, etc.  It may be far fetched for him to keep improving at the same rate but it could happen.

[RodyTur10]

He's been the best player on the C's so far this season. 

He's in ridiculously awesome shape right now.  Looks great.  His confidence level is up there and the game seems to be slowing down for him. 

I think people who want to trade him in a package for Harden are absolutely nuts.

Jaylen Brown is looking as our best player at the moment. Always thought him and Tatum to be very close on level.
I've made some trade proposals including Brown. And I fully understand people not agreeing with it, as I have doubts myself. To convince Houston to trade Harden I just believe some team needs to put a young potential All Star on the table and currently that's only Brown (since Tatum can't be reasonably traded with his poison pill).

If reports are true that similar level players like Simmons, Adebayo and Murray have been deemed as untouchable by their respected teams then it may be that it would be bidding against ourselves. Kind of hard to see some other team putting a better player/asset on the table than Brown. If we could make a trade for Harden just around Kemba Walker + prospects and picks, then that would be great.

James Harden is a MVP-type and top 30 OAT player. These players going on the market and declaring being interested to play in Boston is a rare situation. Feels like a lost opportunity if we let ourselves outbid by our rivals. I wish our draftees from last year had shown more, but unfortunately Langford, G.Williams and Edwards look like (potential) busts and have lost their value as trade assets, they probably wouldn't even net a first round pick all together.

A player of Harden's caliber is an outlier for who I would want to change the directory of building for the future. But if he doesn't come to Boston and so far we haven't heard reports that would indicate otherwise then I'm looking forward to what the Tatum/Brown combo can do. But the Celtics need some prospects to develop. Pritchard and Robert Williams are looking nice, hopefully one of our wings (Langford or Nesmith) can also show promise when they're healthy/adjusted to the NBA.

[nickagneta]

Jaylen through 5 games:

28 PPG
3.4 APG
4.4 RPG
1.8 SPG
0.8 BPG

56.3% FG%
44% 3PT%
67.8 FT%
62% eFG%
63.8% TS%

28.9 PER
30.5% USG%
.229 WS/48
0.8 WS
7.6% TOV%
0.455 Points/Touch

Just some startlingly great stats for Jaylen.

[RodyTur10]

Jaylen through 5 games:

28 PPG
3.4 APG
4.4 RPG
1.8 SPG
0.8 BPG

56.3% FG%
44% 3PT%
67.8 FT%
62% eFG%
63.8% TS%

28.9 PER
30.5% USG%
.229 WS/48
0.8 WS
7.6% TOV%
0.455 Points/Touch

Just some startlingly great stats for Jaylen.

His free throw percentage needs improvement 

[Somebody]

Going to brag a bit that I've been rating Jaylen as our most valuable asset over Tatum for quite some time (his contract is just such a bargain) lol. It's a great time to be a Celtics fan when we have both of them for the years to come

[td450]

Other than the fact that it has been repeated endlessly, why exactly is Tatum's ceiling higher?

My take is that Tatum submitted to a max NBA training regimen since age 13. Did the most dedicated possible path through AAU/Duke. Nothing but basketball. Jaylen decided to also be a person for a while. So while Tatum is 1 1/2 years younger, he's been 100% dedicated to training for a pro career longer. When he was a rookie and Brown was a 2nd year pro, Tatum had put in more hours in the gym working on his toolkit, and everyone decided he was more talented.

Both guys have been very dedicated since they became pros, and it shows. The progression is there for both. But Jaylen has improved more, and he is considerably more athletic, and it's starting to appear that he is a bit more competitive too. Twenty games from now, it could very well be obvious that Jaylen is the alpha on this team.

[Rikibellevie]

It is wonderfull to see his confidence in his game and a real offensive maturation. It is still only 5 macthes so far. But I think he (will) cross(ed) a gap this year. It's very very rare a team has two players of this potential. JT and JB have morevoer complementary games. But I don't still think he has a higher potential than Tatum as some says. He is 2 years more aged, so his progression is  and Tatum makes a slow start this season. It shows also the team begin quiet well to feed the hottest of our 2 superstars is in a game. 

Tatum has to learn how to go more regulary on the line, to progress on his choices, to have more regularity in his performance. He still has progress to make but his instinct of the game, his morphology still put him as the best superstar potential for me.