Boston Celtics: 3 players facing most pressure in 2019-20

Jaylen Brown

Brown began last year in the starting lineup for the Boston Celtics, under-performing to start the season and earning himself a bench role because of it. Brown wound up only starting 25 games last year, which is only five more than his rookie season and 55 less than in 2017-18.

Playing off of the bench actually suited Brown, allowing him to showcase his skills in transition against second units, scoring 310 points off the 292 transition plays he finished.

Transition was not the only improvement following his role change. Brown found consistency while spotting up, hitting 117 of his 284 attempts and limiting his turnover ratio to just 4.8 percent per Synergy.

Cleaning the glass has Brown’s usage rate at 20.3 percent for last season, which ranks him in the 76th percentile among qualifying players — notably, this is the highest usage rate of his career so far.

Heading into a contract year, Brown is under pressure to start the year strong, showing improvements to his game.

Ending the season, it was apparent his left hand needed work. When driving left out of isolation, Brown turned the ball over 26.7 percent of the time, which increased to a 50 percent turnover ratio when driving left on the baseline.

Defense is another area Brown needs to show improvement this year, as he has been slow on defensive rotations and easily lost on switches. Marcus Morris showed his frustration at Brown over missed rotations last year, which culminated in a shoving match between the two.

Defensive improvement will be a deciding factor when discussing Brown’s improvement this year.

Entering a contract year always comes with questions, while playing for the Celtics always comes with pressure. Brown’s performances from here on out will determine what type of contract gets extended to him next summer and from what teams.

More importantly, if he starts off poorly he may find himself on the trading block to avoid leaving for nothing in the summer.