Boston Celtics: How Jaylen Brown has found himself off the bench

After a rough start to the season, Jaylen Brown was relegated to the Boston Celtics’ bench unit. His time there has activated something in his game that spent much of the first two months on a milk carton: aggressiveness.

The first month of the Boston Celtics‘ season did not exactly go according to plan — certainly not with the expectations heaped upon the team to be a championship contender. Another casualty of lofty expectations was wing Jaylen Brown.

Brown has always been perceived as a high-ceiling, up-and-coming wing player, but after a mercurial playoff run last spring, the expectations became dizzying. He began to be viewed as one of the league’s next superstars, existing in a lineup that could contest the very greatest of the NBA.

Brown’s 2018-19 season did not live up to those expectations. At least, not initially. After a month of struggling to adapt to a refined role in a more talented lineup, Brown found himself relegated to the second unit to attempt to rediscover his game. Lately, it looks as though he’s found it.

Shortly into the second quarter of the Celtics’ March 5 contest with the Golden State Warriors, Jaylen Brown spied an opportunity. The Celtics were exhibiting some of the exemplary ball movement and screen action that became their identity in last season’s playoff run, working the ball around the perimeter into an Al Horford post-up.

Horford drew guard Jacob Evans as the primary defender, an obvious mismatch, forcing Draymond Green to rotate to help. Alfonzo McKinnie, who was being asked to guard Brown at the perimeter, rotated down into the space Green was formerly occupying. Brown made him pay.

This is a level of aggressiveness that was rarely seen from Brown in the early goings of the season. His shot selection is indicative of that, as he’s taken the fewest attempts of his career inside three feet from the rim. Lacking aggressiveness was in fact the leading symptom of his struggles through the first 20 games, which put him on the bench in the first place.

Not only was this a welcome taste of Aggressive Jaylen, it was a welcome taste of Brilliant Off-Ball Offense Jaylen, as he made the correct read and used the space vacated by McKinnie to unleash a vicious cut toward the basket. It was basketball poetry in motion from a former laureate who just rediscovered his voice.

Opening night against the Philadelphia 76ers seems like a long, long time ago. It was easy, that night, to fantasize about a Celtics team that would challenge Golden State for the NBA title. It was easier still to fantasize about the Erotic City, Newport Five, Funk Five, or Whatever Else You Called It lineup that would do battle with the Warriors’ Hampton’s Five. The Erotic City (my chosen name) lineup of course consisted of Kyrie Irving, Brown, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Horford. The lineup didn’t last long.

Nov. 26, known colloquially in Boston as “Marcus Smart Day,” saw Brown relegated to the Celtics’ second unit. At that point, he was shooting just 39.8 percent from the field and a putrid 25.3 percent from deep, while taking 3.9 3-point attempts per game. While Brown was finding success at the rim, shooting 54 percent inside three feet, only 5.3 of his 10.8 attempts per game were coming within 10 feet.

Jaylen trying to be a 3-point weapon is not an issue, as the league has trended toward distance shooting and floor-spacing. His ability to navigate the perimeter and understand when to drive is remarkable for a player so young. However, his willingness to die by the 3 was concerning.

Despite Brown’s willingness to get to the rim early in the season, he was rarely going strong to the basket. As a starter, he averaged only 2.4 free throw attempts per game. While no Celtics player excels at getting to the line, particularly lately, Brown has seen his attempts rise to 2.7 since going to the bench.

His lacking physicality at the rim has changed recently, especially the last 15 games, in which 7.1 of his 11.8 shots per game are coming from within 14 feet. He’s seen upticks in his percentage at the rim as well, as he’s occupying cutting lanes and making smart moves to the basket. The cutting dunk in Golden State is more rule than it is exception lately.

Brown made headlines in December when he told ESPN that coming off the bench has been the hardest thing he’s had to deal with in his career. The story focused on a play at the end of one of Boston’s many blurry early-season losses, in which Marcus Smart shouted at him for making a wrong play.

Brown commented on the difficulties that came with starting this season next to Hayward and Irving, having higher expectations but a diminished role. Perhaps that’s why he’s found success off the bench, as he’s had to battle to carve out a larger role for the team. The dividends are starting to pay off.

Over the last five games, Brown has seen himself come into the top five minutes-getters for the Celtics, outpacing both Gordon Hayward and Marcus Morris. Despite coming off the bench, he’s been used as a closer with the majority of the regular starters, particularly in a loss against the Houston Rockets where he glimmered in the fourth quarter.

He only had nine points in that fourth quarter, but brought an energy on the defensive end of the floor and an aggressiveness in transition that was infectious in a furious comeback effort that fell just short. It was a coming out party of sorts for Brown, and one that had many Celtics fans on social media clamoring for his re-entry into the starting lineup.

Brown is far from a finished product, but his ceiling remains the roof. He needs to get to the free throw line more often, and convert more often when he’s there. He also needs to continue to develop as an off-ball offensive player, where he’s shown incredible flashes, but inconsistency. Still, he’s found the building blocks and he’s creating a base, and oh what a base it is.

In all likelihood, the Celtics will not find playoff success in a resurrected Eastern Conference by giving Marcus Morris starter minutes. The most likely path for success is some variation of the Erotic City lineup, where maybe Marcus Smart continues to start and Gordon Hayward is the sixth man.

Yes, that means Jaylen Brown makes his triumphant return to the Celtics starting five. His time on the bench needs to come to an end. He’s found his game.