Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown an All-Star?
Jaylen Brown has improved in almost every category since his rookie season. He’s still getting better, but is the second-year player out of the University of California deserving of the All-Star nod?
Recently, news broke out that All-Star point guard John Wall will be out for the next two weeks with a knee injury. The Washington Wizards have faced a lot of issues this season, and a lot of those issues have been because Wall has been in a slump with injuries.
Despite the Wizards struggles, and Wall’s injury history this season, he was able to make the All-Star Game. With the news that he will not be able to play because of the injury, could his replacement be Jaylen Brown?
Brown is in his second season for the Boston Celtics. After a rather poor start in his first season, he’s been able to find his groove. There are plenty of candidates for Most Improved Player of the Year and Brown is one of them, though he probably won’t win the award with a few others making stronger cases.
Falling short of winning MIP is not a testament to how much Brown has improved this season, however. We’ve seen him improve his 3-point shooting, scoring, rebounding, playmaking and his defense.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/30/2018.
Certainly those numbers are a lot better than what we saw in his rookie year. While they don’t scream “All-Star,” they still tell us he’s deserving of a look after Wall’s injury… well, at least in Draymond Green‘s eyes.
Draymond Green tells ESPN he believes Boston guard Jaylen Brown should be an All-Star. With John Wall out, Adam Silver must select injury replacement.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 30, 2018
Brown is improving, and he’s shown us why he is deserving to make the game in the future. However, his case isn’t strong enough for him to play in his first ever All-Star Game. There are other players who are more deserving than he is this season.
The NBA more than likely will nominate either Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons or Kemba Walker. All three of those players have enjoyed better seasons than Brown.
| Rk | Player | Age | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaylen Brown | 21 | 31.5 | 5.2 | 11.3 | .460 | 1.7 | 4.5 | .375 | 5.5 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 14.1 |
| 2 | Andre Drummond | 24 | 33.1 | 5.8 | 10.7 | .544 | 0.0 | 0.1 | .000 | 15.1 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 14.7 |
| 3 | Ben Simmons | 21 | 35.0 | 7.0 | 13.4 | .524 | 0.0 | 0.2 | .000 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 16.6 |
| 4 | Kemba Walker | 27 | 34.8 | 7.4 | 17.7 | .419 | 2.6 | 7.3 | .356 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 22.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/30/2018.
Brown is last in points and assists per game among this group, though he has the best 3-point percentage. It’s really hard to compare these players because none of these guys truly play the same type of game or position. Simmons and Walker are point guards, but Simmons is not your traditional guard. Drummond’s stats are certainly going to be a lot different because he plays the center position. Brown is the only small forward on this list, making his stats the hardest to compare.
All of these guys have a case for making the game, but Brown is the least deserving of the four players listed above. Drummond is the most deserving on this list because without him, the Detroit Pistons’ season would be in the garbage.
Next: 2017-18 Week 16 NBA Power Rankings
But if there is anything to take away from this, it’s that people are taking notice of the high flying Golden Bear, including an All-Star player in Green. It probably won’t happen this year, but if he continues to get better, it might be as soon as next year.