Celtics offseason development checklist: Jaylen Browns power finishing

Jaylen Brown made the leap last year to becoming a more complete scorer, cracking open his bag of mid-range and paint finishing moves to become a three-level offensive threat. He built his reputation as a dangerous spot-up shooter who could attack closeouts and rise above the rim protection for acrobatic finishes. That has taken him a long way, and fully building out his approach has now propelled him to All-Star status.

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He dramatically improved as a pick-and-roll playmaker last year, ranking fifth in the league in points per possession, per Synergy. But he only ran pick-and-roll for 21.5 percent of his possessions used, compared to 36.5 percent for Jayson Tatum and 45.9 percent for Paul George, one of the closest prototypes for Brown’s career. That number should go up for both Brown and Tatum next season as the Celtics will likely transition Marcus Smart to point guard and have their two All-Stars run a — hopefully — more balanced offense.

Opponents will likely try to take lanes away from Brown more in the coming season now that he has shown wider passing vision and that is going to present more opportunities to force his way to the rim. If he is going to be successful there and start amassing free throws, he’ll have to make some changes to his approach in the lane.

Brown’s game is defined by his sound balance. He’s a wiry wing with a rock-solid build. He’s got heavy feet, but glides on them effortlessly. He is tough to knock off his spot, and his feet tend to stick to the floor more than other wings of his style. It allows him to pop off shots on balance without much of a load-up, so he can immediately get airborne with a soft touch as soon as he catches the ball or lands on two feet off a dribble.

This ability has shaped his game to try to catch defenders by surprise, often popping up midrange or mid-paint floaters before his man is ready to contest the shot. Or he will catch and shoot off a curl, even with a defender’s hand in his face. So while he got more physical at the point of attack off the dribble last year, he still often defaults to avoiding contact when he goes into a finishing move in the paint.

This either results in him taking an early floater or picking up his dribble and trying to pivot his way out of it. Both result in a more difficult shot and rarely draw a foul. It’s not bad and he is still a good interior scorer, but there is a lot more room to grow here.

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It starts with trying to control the contact near the rim. This is a place where Tatum made monster strides in the second half of last season, as he started shaping his driving angles to get him going more directly at the defender in the pivot. Tatum would also gather the ball with a hop step to get on two feet and then launch himself up and through the defender to get fouled. He has a few inches on Brown which makes it easier, but Brown also has a 40-inch vertical and can pull off a lot of acrobatic finishes.

But when Brown passes up the opportunity to launch the shoulder to finish with a hook or draw a foul, he will often pick up his dribble and start pivoting to find an opening. It can often fool defenders who weren’t expecting the play to continue past this drive.

But a smart defender such as former teammate Daniel Theis knows how to stay balanced and help force a turnover.

Even the Wolves’ poor defense could handle it last year.

That was the perfect example of a window for Brown to go up for the shot. He did the hop gather right into Nazreon Reid’s space and had to go up and over him. He would have likely drawn a foul or at least had a clear back shot at the rim. Instead, he tried too hard to be a playmaker and committed an easy turnover.

Sometimes even his impressive makes could yield more. Late in the third quarter against the Lakers in April, the Celtics had Brown target Montrezl Harrell in the pick-and-roll. It worked, as Brown scored twice with impressive shots that were unmistakably Jaylen specials. It was a rainbow pop floater from 18-feet, followed by him jumping over Harrell to hit a 10-foot finger roll.

You can see how Brown could have gotten past Harrell on both of these to increase the chance of an and-1 or even a kick-out to an open shooter. On the first play that ended with a floater, Brown could have dribbled to Harrell’s right to draw in Alex Caruso from the corner and open up Grant Williams for a wide-open 3. It also would have allowed him to gather the ball on the block and then launch himself back in toward Harrell with a righty finger roll that likely would have drawn a foul.

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On the second play with a minute left in the quarter, when Brown broke through the coverage and met Harrell at the dotted circle, he had an opening to rip through to his left and finish against the glass on the other side of the rim. Because Harrell had his arms out as he was trying to stop Brown, he would have likely drawn a foul that would have been easy for Brown to finish through for the and-1. It also would have opened the pass to Smart in the corner for an open 3 if necessary.

These alternate paths aren’t necessary for Brown to score, as he has proved. But these are the options that allow him to make his drives for more than just two points, more than just the straightforward opportunity. He’ll need it against better defenses and especially in the playoffs when these windows tighten and physicality at the rim gets even stronger. Brown has to be an intimidator during the regular season so those traits can carry over into the postseason.

We don’t know how long it will take him to get back to form after recovering from his left wrist surgery. But creating more options and seizing openings with more aggression should eventually force players to give him even more space. Brown has already hit a high-water mark for his career, but he still has plenty of room to grow.

(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

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