Jaylen Brown: an average player among the elite?

Earlier than you begin studying this text, I ask that you just include an open thoughts and do not forget that I’m evaluating Jaylen Brown to the elite gamers of this world, not all the league. Furthermore, this piece focuses solely on his on-court influence as a result of it may be measured, and that issues to me. Due to this fact, whereas I acknowledge Jaylen Brown’s management, aura, and awards, the point of interest of this text is his on-court manufacturing.

To raised perceive Jaylen Brown’s on-court influence, I dove deep into his statistics and rewatched video games from latest seasons. Whereas Jaylen Brown can generally seem like the very best participant on this planet (as Oliver Fox famous), the numbers don’t inform the identical story.

Jaylen Brown, a scoring machine – actually?

At 23 factors per recreation, Jaylen Brown ranks nineteenth on the checklist of prime scorers. Nevertheless, factors per recreation is a statistic with some grey areas. It doesn’t inform us in regards to the quantity wanted or the effectivity behind these 23 factors. To evaluate scoring potential, it’s worthwhile to mix two statistics: Utilization Price (quantity) and True Capturing Proportion (effectivity). So, how does Jaylen Brown measure up in scoring in comparison with the league’s high-volume gamers?

The reply: fairly common. In line with Cleansing The Glass, amongst 53 gamers with a Utilization Price above 25%, Jaylen Brown ranks twenty seventh in effectivity (TS%)—between 21-year-old Alperen Şengün and 23-year-old Tyrese Maxey. a bigger pool from Basketball Reference, Brown ranks fiftieth in TS% among the many prime 100 gamers by Utilization Price this season. It doesn’t get extra “common among the many elite” than that.

However why isn’t Jaylen Brown extra environment friendly? And why does he generally seem extra environment friendly than the stats recommend?

Highlights don’t at all times equate to productiveness

Jaylen Brown’s common effectivity stems from two interrelated components. The primary is his shot choice. Brown takes 36% of his photographs within the mid-range, the least environment friendly space on the courtroom. He’s excellent on this zone — 48% of his mid-range makes an attempt go in, putting him among the many finest. Nevertheless, excelling in a “low-reward” space doesn’t enhance his general effectivity.

Whereas 36% of his photographs come from the low-reward mid-range, solely 30% come from past the three-point line, most of them from above the break that are much less environment friendly than nook threes. Whereas this is sensible as a result of nook threes are sometimes for function gamers, you could possibly argue that taking extra of them might assist enhance his effectivity. Nevertheless, his three-point shot choice isn’t overly problematic.

The second issue impacting his effectivity is his free-throw capturing, or somewhat, his lack of presence on the line and his struggles when he will get there. His relationship with the free-throw line is puzzling.

Utilizing Free Throw Price (the ratio of FT makes an attempt to FG makes an attempt), we see that among the many prime 100 gamers by Utilization Price on Basketball Reference, Brown ranks sixty fourth in Free Throw Price. How is it that probably the greatest in-game dunkers doesn’t get to the road extra typically than the typical NBA participant?

Once more, the numbers don’t match the highlights. Compounding the difficulty, Brown shoots solely 70% from the road, under the league common of 78%. These numbers are displaying once more some holes in Jaylen Brown recreation among the many elite.

Jaylen Brown appears to be absent from the high-reward zones (free throws and three-pointers) however extremely lively within the low-reward zone. So, what about his relationship with the last word high-reward zone—the rim?

The Rim: point of interest of the issue, or the answer?

Brown makes an attempt 34% of his photographs on the rim—a decent quantity in comparison with related gamers (69th percentile amongst wings, per Cleansing The Glass). Nevertheless, that is down from his early seasons, when over 40% of his photographs had been on the rim.

As for his effectivity on the rim, it’s… common. Among the many 76 gamers with greater than 4 rim makes an attempt per recreation final season, Brown ranks forty eighth in FG%. Whereas a few of these gamers are merely rim runners, amongst wings, Brown ranks within the 61st percentile—barely above common. Good, however with room for greatness.

Brown is among the NBA’s finest finishers on the rim, however the issue arises earlier than he will get there. What if his lack of ability to be elite on the rim and generate extra free throws stems from the sorts of rim makes an attempt he takes? His deal with and courtroom imaginative and prescient have improved, however not sufficient to persistently create optimum conditions for himself. Nevertheless, when Brown receives a lift from teammates, he turns into unstoppable. For instance:

In the course of the common season: 67% on the rim whereas assisted on 51% of his made makes an attempt.
In the course of the playoffs: 75% on the rim whereas assisted on 62% of his made makes an attempt.

Brown’s pace and explosiveness are much more harmful when he doesn’t have the ball and may leap above defenders. With extra off-ball motion, Brown might grow to be the elite finisher he’s destined to be. He might keep his mid-range quantity whereas rising effectivity. His common effectivity isn’t fully his fault, however to grow to be an environment friendly one, his function and strategy want adjustment.

Whereas I hope the teaching employees tweaks Brown’s utilization to contain extra off-ball play, what do the numbers say about Brown as a creator for others?

Jaylen as a major creator

Now that we’ve coated Brown’s scoring, what can we are saying about his potential to create for others? How do the Celtics carry out when Brown is the first creator on the ground?

In line with Cleansing The Glass, amongst 53 gamers with a Utilization Price above 25% and not less than 1,500 minutes, Brown ranks forty ninth in creation for others, forward of solely Jaren Jackson Jr., Karl-Anthony Cities, Cam Thomas, and Jerami Grant. The statistic used right here is assist-to-usage ratio (AST:Usg), which helps quantify a participant’s passing relative to their general quantity.

Rating forty ninth out of 53 gamers on this class doesn’t imply Brown can’t cross or discover his teammates. Nevertheless, it strongly suggests, as we famous earlier, that Brown is primarily a finisher, not a playmaker. One other metric pointing in the identical path is the Celtics’ efficiency when Brown is the first creator. Over the previous three years, Brown has logged 2,659 minutes with out Jayson Tatum (in each the common season and playoffs).

When this occurs, Brown’s Utilization Price jumps from 27.6% to 34.4% per PBP Stats. In brief, when Tatum is on the bench, Brown turns into the go-to man. Individually, his True Capturing proportion drops barely however stays regular (from 58.3% to 57.6%). Nevertheless, the crew’s offense modifications considerably.

Over the previous three years, when Brown and Tatum shared the courtroom, the Celtics’ offensive score was 118.71. However in these 2,659 minutes with Brown as the first possibility, the Celtics’ offensive score dropped to 115.10 (for reference, the offensive score with Tatum however with out Brown was 121.44 over 3,973 minutes). The offensive dip when Brown is the point of interest isn’t as a result of variance or unhealthy luck—the pattern measurement is just too giant for that.

These numbers maintain suggesting that whereas Brown is an elite finisher, he isn’t an elite creator, regardless of what some highlights would possibly recommend.

We will ask for extra, and he can ship

Jaylen Brown has the supermax contract, the Finals MVP, and All-NBA standing. He’s a licensed star, a Celtics legend. Nevertheless, after inspecting his on-court numbers, I feel we’re justified in asking for extra. Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics teaching employees ought to discover methods to optimize his function so he can attain his full potential.

With some changes—higher off-ball utilization and a extra methodical strategy—Brown might grow to be an elite scorer. However for now, the numbers don’t lie, and Jaylen Brown stays common among the many elite. There’s nothing unsuitable with being common among the many elite, however is that what we anticipate from a Finals MVP on a supermax contract? Extra importantly, is it what Jaylen Brown expects from himself?