Luka Doncic, Brandon Ingram headline NBA Most Improved Player Ladder

The Boston Celtics have been notoriously stingy with rookie-scale extensions during much of Danny Ainge’s tenure as the chief personnel decision-maker, so it was at least somewhat of a surprise when it was announced the day before the season tipped off that Jaylen Brown, the No. 3 overall pick by the Celtics in 2016, signed a four-year, $107 million extension.

That was a significant amount of coin for a player who had lost his starting job last season and through his first three years was averaging 11.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game on .462/.365/.658 shooting.

Brown is making Ainge look pretty darn smart so far this season. Through 18 games (he missed three games in late October-early November with an illness), Brown is averaging career-highs of 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 33.4 minutes per game, while shooting .496/.385/.726.

He was one of four members of the Celtics who played with USA Basketball during the FIBA World Cup in China late last summer and that experience seems to have elevated his game to a new level.

Per 36-minutes, Brown has increased from 18.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals last season to 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals thus far in 2019-20.

Besides career-best averages in the counting stats, Brown’s field goal and free throw percentages are also at a career-high level, while his 3-point shooting is just a single percentage point off his best (he shot 39.5 percent on 5.1 attempts per game in 2017-18).