Boston Celtics: 3 goals for Jaylen Brown in 2018-19

2. Transition efficiency

If you did not know by now, Brown is nothing short of an athletic specimen. His combination of length, speed, agility and bounce make him a theoretical nightmare in the open court. Many of his highlights dunks have come via fast breaks.

Yet, he leaves something to be desired in transition opportunities. In fact, he finished in the 34th percentile for transition stats last year, despite being used in the fast break 24.2 percent of the time he was on the court.

Even more surprising was Brown’s transition free throw and turnover numbers. Only 15.7 percent of his transition field goal attempts resulted in a trip to the line, where he shot a lackluster 64.4 percent on the season. Compare this with his transition turnover percentage of 13.7 percent. So why does Brown struggle in this area?

Despite having the body of a Ferrari, Brown doesn’t always have the skills to drive it. In the video below, Brown gets a steal then breaks to the hoop. He gets blocked from behind by Giannis Antetokounmpo, as many people do, but this result was avoidable.

What did Brown do wrong? He decided to attack from the right side instead of command the center of the court. Brown missed a change-of-direction opportunity to get directly in front of the dangerous Antetokounmpo. Doing this would allow Brown to get over the cylinder during his shot attempt and force Antetokounmpo into a goaltend or foul.

Brown’s half-court ball-handling has improved, but his fast break moves need some work. A crossover could have done him good in that last clip. Implementing this into his game is an achievable task — or at least Ainge hopes so.

If Brown is smart enough to know how to play the piano, then maybe he is smart enough to know this aspect of his game needs work. This will be something to watch during next season, as well as his reaction to Hayward’s addition to the starting lineup.