What’s Next for Jaylen Brown After All Star Snub?

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown handed Jayson Tatum the ball commemorating Tatum’s starting role in the NBA All Star Game on Wednesday with hope waning for his own appearance. Ime Udoka joined the pair for the small pregame ceremony at half court before the Celtics’ getaway game into the break, a 112-111 trap loss against the NBA-worst Pistons.

Zach LaVine would receive clearance to play in the showcase the next day and Jarrett Allen already replaced the injured James Harden. Brown set off on two tone-setting offensive explosions, despite later saying the snub wasn’t added motivation, scoring 26 points in the first half of the Celtics’ historic blowout over the 76ers before dropping 27 in three quarters over Detroit. Brown also dished a pair of kick-outs to Al Horford that provided breathing room in the fourth quarter and a late lead, as the Pistons’ shooting run piled up and erased an eight-point Boston advantage in under two minutes.

Then, Saddiq Bey blew by Brown to secure the go-ahead put back in the final seconds, reminiscent of his key mistake covering Robert Covington in the team’s January collapse against Portland, before Udoka called Brown’s number on the final play. Brown rolled downhill following a handoff from Tatum, hit a Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart wall, who both sent his shot steaming backward.

Marcus Smart’s ankle injury on Tuesday put Brown in more on-ball opportunities on Wednesday, where he produced mixed results during the first half of the season. While Tatum made major strides as a ball-handler and facilitator, averaging 4.2 assists per game in the first half, Brown only received short stints in that role when teammates missed games with injuries and COVID. His turnovers surpassed his assists early in the season, and when the team returned to full health, he moved back into more of an off-ball role with the team adding Derrick White at the trade deadline. Brown’s on-ball development went on hold and, when restarted, turned into spot mistakes.

“For Jaylen and Jayson, it’s a balancing act,” Ime Udoka told CLNS Media in Philadelphia this week. “Because they are really good scorers and they can take advantage of certain matchups when teams are switching. When we get a favorable matchup, we want them to take advantage of that. So it’s not the same case with everybody, but we still want them to understand when they have the matchup, to attack it, but also realize teams aren’t going to give them that one-on-one matchup. They’re going to show that crowd and from there it’s making the right read. It’s a balance there, and I think all of our guys, the numbers show and the film shows and we see it, that they’re all trying to adapt to what we’re asking of them. I think over the last 15 games, since we played Philadelphia last time, our assist numbers have gone up drastically … a big part of that is ball movement.”

With Brown catching the ball around screens, driving downhill and being forced to make quick decisions in a 0.5-second offense — a system that’s working for Smart, White, Tatum, Al Horford and Robert Williams III as more natural passers — that leaned on Brown recently to be more of a finisher. His shot volume, nearly 18 attempts per game, works for a team that occasionally starves for scoring, even when the defense is holding opponents in the teens (they won the 4Q vs. ATL 18-17). Brown’s strengths remain exploding on the break, often setting the tone for a team trying and recently succeeding at playing faster, finishing inside and shooting.

Over 11 games between Smart’s return in Washington and White’s first two games against Denver and Atlanta, Brown’s efficiency dipped to 45.1% from the field and 29.1% from deep. He still grabbed over 7.0 RPG and reached the free throw line nearly five times each night, while his 21.7 PPG kicked the cover off the rim when points became hard to come by. Even with less ball time, his turnovers nearly matched his assists. Brown shot 10-for-33 in the Denver and Atlanta wins, serving seven assists and six turnovers.

“Obviously, (White) will shave (Brown’s ball time) down by having another playmaker out there,” Udoka told CLNS pre-game in Philadelphia. “You saw, the last few games since Derrick’s been there, we have multiple guys we can run the offense through. Derrick has finished, at times, in the last two games. But it just gives us another option out there. So you would think the more capable handlers, facilitators you have is going to shave some down from everybody else, but I see that as a benefit. Where we don’t have to rely on one or two guys in end-of-game situations. We can have multiple guys running things. Derrick’s a guy who plays a true combo guard, and can play on or off, so it’s going to shave some down from Jaylen, Jayson, Marcus as well, but when they get to the second side all those guys are capable of making plays.”

Brown’s sweet spot has been catching the ball around screens and either finishing himself in the lane, or placing much-improved lobs in the hands of Williams III and new old friend Daniel Theis. 

When he gets into the lane, he’ll occasionally pick up his dribble, take tough, contested shots or lose control of the ball. He drove into traffic late in the Denver game and handed the Nuggets a key pair of fourth quarter stops in a one-possession game.

To end the game, he almost rushed the ball too quickly into the offensive zone ahead by three with 1:30 left, before doubling back out and missing a three.

Boston’s win over the Hawks two days later saw Brown missing White’s cut attempt in the lane. He led a bench rotation so disoriented early in the fourth quarter that Tatum came racing off the bike to the scorer’s table just a few minutes into the final frame. Those non-Tatum minutes are where Udoka needs the most out of his second star from a ball movement and protection standpoint. The Celtics score 112.2 points per 100 possessions with Tatum on the floor, compared to 109.7 from Brown.

Brown made more assertive decisions after a pair of rough games to begin the Philadelphia win. With Matisse Thybulle on Tatum, the Celtics funneled the ball to Brown who quickly found his spots against the 76ers’ guards and drilled pull-up jumpers.

“Favorable matchups,” Udoka told CLNS post-game. “We liked some of the matchups Jaylen had, while we were getting stops, getting out in transition for easy baskets. That’s been our biggest key to our offensive improvement lately is our pace and letting our defense turn into offense, so he was the recipient of that. Getting out a little bit, getting free easy buckets. Just had a mindset to come out and attack and shots were falling for him and he stayed with it.”

Brown started the game 6-of-9, and Udoka pointed out that it allowed Boston to run diversions with him and free Tatum for a 5-for-8 third quarter, as the two stars meshing became Udoka’s most impactful achievement of the first half of the season.

Udoka, as much as he’s stressed ball movement, does leave some room for isolation. For the scoring mindset that’s built Tatum, and Brown in the past, into all star players. He doesn’t want to change who they are, but rather make some adjustments around the edges that allow the pair to fit into a Spurs-like movement and pace offense. He’s moved the team away from the obvious late-game attacking Smart lambasted in November and Joel Embiid pointed out as the key to stopping Boston when the 76ers beat them last. Doc Rivers identified an entirely different Celtics offense following Tuesday’s 48-point Philadelphia loss.

“I’m just playing my game, to be honest. I think Ime stresses to be aggressive in situations where you can be overthinking,” Brown told CLNS Media post-game after the Philadelphia win. “Sometimes you just need to play basketball. I think over the last 10 games or so the game has just been easy, the floor has been spaced. I think that was the emphasis for us, is getting in the right spacing. That makes it easier for us to make plays. When we’re on top of each other, that’s what made it easier to turn the ball over. So I think Ime has emphasized spacing more than anything, and that’s really really what I’d attribute to improved playmaking for our whole entire team.”

Brown presents the most difficult challenge for the head coach. When Brown took over on the ball in December, that overthinking Brown acknowledged, rushing and indecision led to upwards of seven turnovers in certain games. His vintage performance this season, a 50-point thumping of the Magic that led a comeback win, saw him dump that decision-making in favor of aggressive scoring.

On a team that’s struggled so much to put the ball in the net, they’ll take that, but for Brown to put himself among the best players in the league, he’ll need to transcend being just a scorer. It’ll also prevent him from getting lost following hot starts or in the key stages of playoff games as we’ve witnessed in the past. Dennis Schröder quipped after that Magic win how many times he’d seen Brown score dozens of points early, then be unable to match that same energy late.

The Celtics can only hope, as Brown tweeted last month, the energy is about to shift. He poured in 60 points on 57.9% shooting in the final two games before the break, with nine assists and four turnovers.

“It is what is, I’m not really disappointed. I said before, I’m not losing no sleep,” Brown said after about missing the All Star Game. “I think that my ability on both sides of the ball speaks for itself. I’m not going to knock any of those other guys. Congratulations to them. I think it’s situation, to be honest. I think maybe some other things go into that maybe we don’t know about right now. JT will hold it down for both of us. It’s not that big of a deal … obviously I think I deserve it, but that’s life. It is what it is. It ain’t gon’ stop me. It ain’t gon’ stop my work ethic. It ain’t gon stop my platform. So in reality, it’s not that important. Get ready for the second half of the season.”