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With Tatum being out basically the whole year I wonder will Brown continue the tradition of "Robins" or sidekicks having great years when they either go to lead a new team or when the top guy is hurt or gone. Porzingis and Holiday are gone too.

Jaylen Brown

last season : 22.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.5 apg
22-23 (best season of career so far) - 26.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.5 apg


Some examples of sidekick seasons before and after #1 guy is out:

Scottie Pippen:

92-93 - 18.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 7 apg,, 2.1 spg
93-94 (no Jordan) - 22 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.3 apg 2.2 spg

Tracy Mcgrady:

99-00 (last year in TOR) - 15.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.3 apg
00-01 (no VC and full time starter) - 26.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.6 apg

Jerry Stackhouse:

99-00(last season w/ Grant Hill) - 23.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.5 apg
00-01 - 29.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 5.1 apg

Russell Westbrook:

15-16 (last year w/KD) - 23.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 10.4 apg
16-17 - 31.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 10.4 apg

James Harden:

11-12(last season in OKC) - 16.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.7 apg
12-13 (first season as full-time starter) - 25.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 5.8 apg

Kobe Bryant:

Kobe's last year with Shaq and first year w/o him are weird anomalies because of Colorado, addition of Payton/Malone, and then the season after transitioning from Phil to Rudy, being hurt and also sharing shots w/ Butler. So I chose to go with the 02-03 & 05-06 seasons for a better comparison but even that's hard because Shaq missing games led Kobe to already start to do more :

02-03 - 30 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.9 apg
05-06 - 35.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.5 apg

I think he will be their main scorer as I don't think Derrick White can put up 20 night in and out for a season. I do think his shooting percentages will be lower than expected as the Celtics aren't as talented as the last few years.

I expect it to easily be his career high in ppg. Not sure what the exact criteria is for “career year,” outside of that. His TS% probably won’t be as good.

Will probably be similar to his 2022-2023 season

Brown will have the opportunity to put up a lot more shots if he wants to, but I noticed you didn't post the player's efficiency stats so you didn't really paint a picture as to whether those players stepped up or just consumed more possessions.

Baring injury (or tank related 'injury') I'd be surprised if he doesn't have a big counting stats season.

Most likely this comes with an efficiency downgrade and likely some energy conservation on defense so he isn't really better.

GrindCityHustle wrote:I think he will be their main scorer as I don't think Derrick White can put up 20 night in and out for a season. I do think his shooting percentages will be lower than expected as the Celtics aren't as talented as the last few years.

I expect DWhite to have a monster year. He will basically be the #2 guy. Expect him to be at or above 20ppg. I think some of us C's fans are hoping that White and Brown's minutes are on the lower end this season which could limit their ppg if that's the metric for success.

shots will be up, and turnovers will be up.

He's 28 and in his prime but not going to suddenly change who he is as a player.

No. And if he tries to have a career year, he will have a bad year.

He will score more PPG, if that is the question, then yes.

Still can’t dribble the ball if his life depended on it. So that limits his effectiveness.

I expect White to have a much, much bigger year and impact.

I think the biggest leap for him will come with passing & playmaking. He's normally only worried about getting a bucket but we'll see him learn to read the defense better and find open teammates.
It should also force him to improve his handle. He'd be a nightmare iso player if his handle was pure. He can't get the most out of his athleticism because of his clunkiness.

JujitsuFlip wrote:He will score more PPG, if that is the question, then yes.

I was looking, i didn't realize he struggled from the line and was inconsistent from 3 year to year. Getting to 30 ppg may still prove difficult for him, due to his lack of efficiency.

jokeboy86 wrote:With Tatum being out basically the whole year I wonder will Brown continue the tradition of "Robins" or sidekicks having great years when they either go to lead a new team or when the top guy is hurt or gone. Porzingis and Holiday are gone too.

Jaylen Brown

last season : 22.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.5 apg
22-23 (best season of career so far) - 26.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.5 apg


Some examples of sidekick seasons before and after #1 guy is out:

Scottie Pippen:

92-93 - 18.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 7 apg,, 2.1 spg
93-94 (no Jordan) - 22 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.3 apg 2.2 spg

Tracy Mcgrady:

99-00 (last year in TOR) - 15.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.3 apg
00-01 (no VC and full time starter) - 26.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.6 apg

Jerry Stackhouse:

99-00(last season w/ Grant Hill) - 23.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.5 apg
00-01 - 29.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 5.1 apg

Russell Westbrook:

15-16 (last year w/KD) - 23.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 10.4 apg
16-17 - 31.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 10.4 apg

James Harden:

11-12(last season in OKC) - 16.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.7 apg
12-13 (first season as full-time starter) - 25.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 5.8 apg

Kobe Bryant:

Kobe's last year with Shaq and first year w/o him are weird anomalies because of Colorado, addition of Payton/Malone, and then the season after transitioning from Phil to Rudy, being hurt and also sharing shots w/ Butler. So I chose to go with the 02-03 & 05-06 seasons for a better comparison but even that's hard because Shaq missing games led Kobe to already start to do more :

02-03 - 30 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.9 apg
05-06 - 35.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.5 apg

I don't know what you mean by Jaylen Brown being a sidekick. Tatum is the draw but has always played like the sidekick. When they won the championship, Jaylon brown won not only the eastern conference MVP, but also the fi als MVP. You most likely don't watch all the Celtics games. In big moments,Jaylen has always come through while Tatum has consistently struggled, or had an averaged game. You might be talking about the regular season. Even that has been pretty much a toss up stat wise

He's going to have the best season of his career thus far.

Raw stats? Yeah, probably. He's going to get the ball a ton. Of the top 6 other scorers from last year, only 2 are in the rotation. We'll see if he can be efficient with all those extra touches.

I mean, ofc he is..

he's been taking a backseat to Tatum since the get-go and that has worked great for the C's, but he's a supermax player for a reason and it's not just losing JT. Jrue, KP, Horford etc. - it will be the Jaylen show this season

Not even to hate, but hasn't he yet to average a lot of points with an elite true shooting percentage — even as a "No. 2 option"? I don't think he's a premier offensive player. I think he might even see a big efficiency drop. maybe like 27 ppg on 56 TS%.

Career high in ppg but drop in efficiency + more turnovers

At this point it's hard to believe he will improve his playmaking or dribbling skills, particularly on his weak side. Teams who do their homework on Jaylen Brown will know how to defend him well

IMO the Celtics have such a significant drop in overall talent that it will be much easier for teams to make Browns life miserable. I don't believe he can resist playing hero ball in his first opportunity to be the #1 guy, and it will cause them to lose some winnable games

celticfan42487 wrote:shots will be up, and turnovers will be up.

He's 28 and in his prime but not going to suddenly change who he is as a player.

Exactly. The shot volume increase is there if he wants it, but we're talking about a guy who's already averaged 20 FGA (2023, 4th in the league that year). The stress test will be on his ball handling and playmaking. He'll be guarded by better defenders, and see more help defense. He'll have less of the weakside attacks he's been so deadly at, because I doubt teams will abandon Jaylen to guard Pritchard/Queta pick & rolls.

I'm sure Jaylen knows about the opportunity and risk of more ball handling, and I bet it's been a long summer of seeing what he can do to tighten that handle even further. The coaching staff knows him well too, and will do the best to put him in situations with advantage.

There's a chance Jaylen Brown averages a ton of points this year and casual fans drool over the big PPG. I think there's also a chance, if Boston doesn't surprise with some wins, that they shut down Brown halfway through the season and this is kind of a nothing year for him.