Jaylen Brown will have the best Celtics rookie year since...

[86MaxwellSmart]

Rick Fox....I'm starting to come around on him

[Kuberski33]

I'm starting to think he might be able to replace Turner offensively sooner vs later - by sooner I'm thinking 2nd half of the season.  That's probably a best case scenario.  He wants the ball in his hands and can get to the rim - though I would expect him to struggle for a while once he has to play against real NBA players.

His development may well be the key to how far this team can go for the next couple of seasons anyway - assuming of course that the roster stays more or less the same as it stands right now. 

[LarBrd33]

marcus smart.

Summer League stats were worse.

[tarheelsxxiii]

If Crowder wasn't here, I'd guess Ron Mercer lite. But love Crowder and fully expect a Smart-like first season (stats wise, prob in fewer mins).

Isaiah will continue to get his 20+, but I'm not sure Horford even cares about putting up elite stats at this point. He can definitely reach the same ~15 ppg as last year (with greater opportunity), or he could drop slightly given his age and the atmosphere of the West.

[mr. dee]

If Brown comes close to Mercer's stats by coming off the bench, I'd be really impressed.

[tarheelsxxiii]

If Brown comes close to Mercer's stats by coming off the bench, I'd be really impressed.

He won't off the bench but man is his upside exciting.

[2short]

Al Jefferson rookie season: 14.8 min, 6.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.8 bpg

Rajon Rondo rookie season: 23.5 min, 6.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.6 spg

Paul Pierce rookie season: 34 min, 16.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.0 bpg, 0.412 3P%

Antonio Walker rookie season: 36.2 min, 17.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.3 spg

Dee Brown rookie season: 23.7 min, 8.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.0 spg

Kevin McHale rookie season: 20.1 min, 10 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.8 bpg

Larry Bird rookie season: 36 min, 21.3 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.7 spg

Oh mr bird how much you meant to the team when you came in as a rookie and changed everything.

[SHAQATTACK]

Rondo

[mctyson]

It is an interesting question...I said Rondo because I think there are a lot of similarities between the two players.  When I first saw Rondo play in person during pre-season I was blown away by his athleticism and he absolutely owned Steph Marbury on defense.

I think we will see that from Brown.  He will be very inconsistent but there will be a few match-ups against NBA veterans, possibly All-Stars, where he is going to dominate athletically.

[Eja117]

Marcus Smart. Possibly Rozier or KO or Sully. Any comparisons to Paul Pierce or Larry Bird or even Toine are absurd. Perhaps if you wanted to compare him to them at age 19.

[greenpride32]

Kelly played 20 mpg his rookie year, Marcus played 27.  Im guessing the 3 pick in the draft is going to see minutes, and probably a lot of them.

Those were on bad, non-playoff teams.  JB will probably really need to break through to get top 8 rotation type minutes, or even start.

[RockinRyA]

Kelly played 20 mpg his rookie year, Marcus played 27.  Im guessing the 3 pick in the draft is going to see minutes, and probably a lot of them.

Brad has no problem at all playing rookies.  He sometimes over plays them, j/k... but he was playing RJ in the playoffs.

Brown is definitely going to see plenty of court time behind Crowder.  I would say 15mpg as a complete guess.  I dont even think he has to earn it practice, it's just smart for a franchise to be giving a 3 pick plenty of minutes to give him a chance to become what you hope he will.

TP very true, I think the only difference between Kelly, Marcus & Jaylen is that we are contending this year, but I think Brown's ability to get to the line is huge advantage for him.

We were fighting for playoffs during Smart's rookie year.

[Csfan1984]

Best since Rozier

[JumpingJudkins]

Um, who is this Antonio Walker?

[Bobshot]

I'm about as sure about this as all those Griffin trade rumors. It's a bit early to make comparisons. Better at the end of camp.