Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown’s rise as a true shooting guard

Watching Jaylen Brown play early in his Boston Celtics career, there was sometimes a sense of dread when he hoisted up a three-pointer. Brown had his struggles — as many young players do — and there wasn’t enough consistency for him to be shooting the shots he did.

Consider those days long gone.

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The 24-year old, a “grizzled” veteran now in his fifth season, is in the midst of his best season to date. Brown is seventh in the league in scoring at 27.1 points per game and is doing so with a nice mix of drives, mid-range jumpers, and a steady hand behind the arc. The first has also been part of his repertoire, while the other two areas have shown remarkable improvement.

It’s a good thing, too, that Brown has risen to the upper echelon of shooting guards. If not, Boston may very well be worse off than their current 10-7 record.

Brown has developed into the type of shooter sorely missed since the departure of Ray Allen. In comparison, it’s not about the volume of shots but the feeling one gets when watching a player who has the ball in their hands. The feeling that leans to positivity rather than negativity when a shot is put up.

In his first three seasons, there wasn’t quite that feeling with Brown. He shot 34.1 and 34.4 percent in his first and third seasons, sandwiched around a 39.5 in year two. This lack of consistency was troubling, though Brown’s scoring was already on the rise at this point.

Then year four happened, in which Brown shot 38.2 percent from deep. Thru 17 games in 2020-21, Brown has raised that number to 44.1 percent. As good as he’s been from deep, Brown is doing more than simply settling for the long distance shot.

Jaylen Brown a true shooting guard for the Boston Celtics.

Brown’s rise has brought on a sigh of relief in terms of Boston looking for a true knockdown shooter. Early hope was that Carsen Edwards could bring that “three-point confidence”. Or even that Aaron Nesmith could be that guy.

Both still could — and have done good things as of late — but it turns out the shooting guard the Celtics were looking for was in Boston all along.

It’s been a 180 for Brown from deep and he’s also performing well from the mid-range, an underutilized aspect more players should embrace. Between getting in the paint more and choosing mid-range over a three-pointer on occasion, Brown is having his best shooting season.

All of which should hopefully lead to an All-Star selection for Brown.

Brown is connecting on 52.2 percent from the field, a mark that currently ranks him as the third best among guards. The two guards ahead of him, Hamidou Diallo of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, both average roughly ten attempts less per game than Brown does.

The elite three-point shooters evoke that fear of making every shot simply by catching the ball beyond the arc. Brown may not be at that level yet, but with the trajectory he’s been on in his career, it could very well happen soon.

And for the Boston Celtics, that means brighter hope for an already bright future.