5. Jaylen Brown will focus on developing his defense
Defense could become somewhat of a sticking point for the Boston Celtics. The team lost their best perimeter defenders in Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder over the summer. The Celtics also struggled to grab rebounds and block shots last year, and their roster changes didn’t really address either of those issues.
Of course, Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward are good wing defenders, but Boston is missing some of the depth it had last year. Jaylen Brown, who is 6’7″, has all of the athletic tools to form into a lockdown defender, and that’s the exact role that Brad Stevens wants him to play.
Stevens: “We need Jaylen to be a lock down defender. If we’re going to be the best that we’re going to be, that’s going to be important.”
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) September 25, 2017
Jaylen would serve the Celtics well by covering the opponents best player every night. He has the versatility to guard anyone from Giannis Antetokounmpo to Stephen Curry. In the Celtics’ playoff series against the Cavaliers last year, Brown had the impossible challenge of slowing down LeBron James. When asked about trying guard the four-time MVP, Brown said that he wasn’t scared of The King, referring to him as just a “regular guy.”
It was probably a rookie move to talk a little trash about an all-time great, but that’s the sort of attitude that you want from a young player.