Should the Boston Celtics move Jaylen Brown back into the starting lineup?

The Boston Celtics have the benefit of rolling out a team full of talented, young role players. However, with this much talent, third-year wing Jaylen Brown has lost his spot in the starting unit. It’s time to put him back in with the starters.

Since head coach Brad Stevens made the move to take the rough and tumble pair of Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris off the bench and insert them into the Boston Celtics‘ starting lineup, they have done exactly what was intended: bring a certain edge and toughness to the opening unit.

However, this has come at the cost of playing time for wings Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward. Hayward may have found a more permanent place as the sixth man until he begins his slow trek back to pre-injury form, but for Brown, he is much better utilized in a starting role surrounded by more talented players.

With Jaylen Brown, one of the single biggest factors in his play is confidence. A confident Jaylen Brown is the perfect contributor to this Celtics team. You can see it in his play: He lets open 3s fly, attacks the rim off the dribble on handoffs and cuts to the paint when defenders are closing out on outside shooters, using his size and strength to bully smaller guards on the block. A confident Jaylen Brown is an absolute necessity on the defensive end for the Celtics, who need his versatility and instincts to cover some of the league’s most talented guards, wings and even some bigs.

What the Boston Celtics have seen a little too much this season is a Jaylen Brown who hesitates on open, outside looks, doesn’t make it to the rim at the same rate, and pulls up for mid-range 2s instead of working inside on smaller opponents. Without these efficient looks falling, his greatest asset — his defense — takes a hit as he can sometimes appear lost and disengaged when defending off the ball.

Moving Brown to the starting lineup will also, unfortunately, necessitate moving one of the Marcuses back to the bench. While both of them are career bench players, they have both played their roles perfectly for the team and deserve to be recognized as the essential players they are in Boston.

In Boston, Marcus Morris has evolved into the type of player that is an absolute must-have for any championship contender. He guards the league’s most unique and difficult to guard players, unicorns like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ben Simmons, and stretches the floor with his scorching 43.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc as a 4.

He is averaging a career high in scoring with 15.3 points per game and is third on the team in rebounds (5.9 per game). His defense, rebounding, and largely off-ball presence on offense mean the Celtics would do well to leave him with the opening group.

Marcus Smart is the Celtics’ longest-tenured player currently on the roster, and has been shooting surprisingly okay this season with a percentage of 33.8 from deep. He is among the league’s elite perimeter defenders and will be vital in the playoffs matching up against some of the best teams in the East. He is a fan favorite who plays with heart and passion rarely paralleled, but swapping him back for Jaylen Brown could benefit both the second unit and the starters.

Regardless of Smart’s career season from 3, Brown’s entire NBA career says he is a better shooter, still an elite defender, and his added size gives Boston even more of the versatility that makes them such a matchup problem.

While Jaylen Brown is bigger and a better shooter, Marcus Smart is twice the playmaker Brown is. With Smart back on the second unit, the Celtics are much better off with him and Hayward keeping the ball skipping and making sure that unit gets more efficient looks rather than relying on just Hayward and guard Terry Rozier as the sole playmakers.

While it is not ideal to take a player who plays with so much grit and passion out of a more featured role, nothing about Smart’s career points to less of an impact if he were to come off the bench. Last season, Smart sacrificed and told Stevens to start Jaylen Brown over him. This season, the Celtics might be better off if he did so again. Besides, as long as Smart plays around 27 minutes a game, Boston will be fine.

A reinstatement into the starting lineup could do wonders for a Jaylen Brown, who has already made strides since his poor start to the season. It would be a vote of confidence from his team and coach Stevens. When Brown has the opportunity to play with a green light and has the opportunity play his aggressive style of offense and defense, sparks fly.

While this could benefit his confidence and in turn, his game, returning Brown to the starting lineup could be a great move for the Boston Celtics’ long game too.

Barring extreme luck in the upcoming draft, the Celtics’ picks are from a hard-playing, overachieving Sacramento Kings team and a Memphis Grizzlies squad trying its darnedest to win for their aging franchise cornerstones Mike Conley and Marc Gasol (top-eight protected). With the Los Angeles Clippers’ pick lottery-protected, the best-case scenario Boston is maybe two late lottery picks and another in the 20s. That’s a valuable haul for sure, but unlikely to yield a franchise player capable of replacing any of Boston’s core guys.

A permanent move to the starting lineup would cement Jaylen Brown with the Celtics’ core of the present and the future. With Kyrie Irving as the 26-year-old franchise cornerstone and golden boy Jayson Tatum looking more and more like a future superstar every day, Boston has flexibility moving forward. Beyond Tatum, the Celtics still have a plethora of young pieces, and unfortunately, not all will fit into the team’s future due to salary and fit reasons.

Discussions after this season regarding the re-signing of the Celtics’ young players should start and end with Jaylen Brown, beyond the obvious re-signing of Tatum. Brown has proved himself in the playoffs as a featured player and as a role player in first two seasons, as well as provided a resume that highlights some valuable skills that will prove incredibly useful as this Celtics core enters its collective prime and championship window.

At his worst, Jaylen Brown is a versatile defender that has the athleticism and instincts to cover some of the best wings and guards in the league on ball, as well as an outside shot that will at least draw defensive attention and the ability to throw down crowd-pleasing dunks.

The Celtics have proven to be a much better team with a confident and engaged Jaylen Brown, and a move back into the starting lineup could give him the necessary boost to his game and keep his progression trending upwards.