What is Jaylen Brown's ceiling?

[Floody100]

He’s gone up another level in the bubble.

Besides looking really good on defense, he has been crazy efficient on offense. Feels like half his shots have been three pointers, and he's knocking a ton of them down.

His handles & vision have vastly improved which means he’s been given a lot more responsibility on offence in the bubble.

[BostonCouchGM]

He’s gone up another level in the bubble.

Besides looking really good on defense, he has been crazy efficient on offense. Feels like half his shots have been three pointers, and he's knocking a ton of them down.

he really hasn't been looking really good on defense. He has his moments like usual, but others where he gets cooked on man and still others where he's lazy and lost in traffic which leads to them getting wide open looks. The narrative he's a great defender needs to die, it's never been true. Smart is a great defender. Tatum is a great defender. Jaylen and Hayward are solid defenders and neither should get praise for their defense because it's simply not true.

On offense Jaylen is incredible inconsistent. He gets wide open threes and if he's hitting, he has a good game and then we usually win. In the three wins in the bubble so far he's been 15 for 25 from three. In the two losses he's been 3 for 15. Nothing changes and opponent doesn't really matter. He either hits his wide open threes or he doesn't. It makes me think we'll only go as far as Jaylen takes us. Opponents clearly make Jaylen beat them. I think his confidence is sky high right now so I hope he continues this hot streak. We aren't getting to the Finals or even the ECF without him having some big games and he'll only have big games if he's hitting threes.

[ParticleMan]

He’s gone up another level in the bubble.

Besides looking really good on defense, he has been crazy efficient on offense. Feels like half his shots have been three pointers, and he's knocking a ton of them down.

he really hasn't been looking really good on defense. He has his moments like usual, but others where he gets cooked on man and still others where he's lazy and lost in traffic which leads to them getting wide open looks. The narrative he's a great defender needs to die, it's never been true. Smart is a great defender. Tatum is a great defender. Jaylen and Hayward are solid defenders and neither should get praise for their defense because it's simply not true.

On offense Jaylen is incredible inconsistent. He gets wide open threes and if he's hitting, he has a good game and then we usually win. In the three wins in the bubble so far he's been 15 for 25 from three. In the two losses he's been 3 for 15. Nothing changes and opponent doesn't really matter. He either hits his wide open threes or he doesn't. It makes me think we'll only go as far as Jaylen takes us. Opponents clearly make Jaylen beat them. I think his confidence is sky high right now so I hope he continues this hot streak. We aren't getting to the Finals or even the ECF without him having some big games and he'll only have big games if he's hitting threes.

Jaylen has not been inconsistent offensively at all. In the bubble, he's scored 18-30 every game. See, if you want your arguments taken seriously, you have to apply the same criteria to everyone. So let's compare to Tatum, who's been way more up and down (5-34 points in the bubble). When he has a 2-18 stinker everyone goes "oh, he just had a bad game, he'll be fine next time." Which is true, and totally correct. But when Jaylen does anything close to that, here come the haters talking about how Jaylen is an inconsistent 4th-option 3-and-D guy. 3-15 from 3 in losses... i mean why can't he just always shoot 60% from 3's like in the wins? So inconsistent lol. It's laughable. Mike G has said several times that Jaylen has been our best player since the restart, but what does he know.

Also defensively. OK he's no Marcus Smart who is otherworldly, but he's really good. There's a reason Brad always puts Jaylen on the other team's best swing, not Tatum or Hayward. Who guarded Siakam in the last game? Jaylen. Despite Siakam being a PF and Tatum/Hayward matching up much better size-wise. But Jaylen guards him, because Brad knows Jaylen is our best swing defender. But what does Brad know right? Tatum is clearly the better defender, because Anunoby doesn't score on him but Siakam gets a couple of blowbys on Jaylen while going 5-15.

[greenroom31]

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[TommyPointGawd]

He’s gone up another level in the bubble.

Besides looking really good on defense, he has been crazy efficient on offense. Feels like half his shots have been three pointers, and he's knocking a ton of them down.

he really hasn't been looking really good on defense. He has his moments like usual, but others where he gets cooked on man and still others where he's lazy and lost in traffic which leads to them getting wide open looks. The narrative he's a great defender needs to die, it's never been true. Smart is a great defender. Tatum is a great defender. Jaylen and Hayward are solid defenders and neither should get praise for their defense because it's simply not true.

On offense Jaylen is incredible inconsistent. He gets wide open threes and if he's hitting, he has a good game and then we usually win. In the three wins in the bubble so far he's been 15 for 25 from three. In the two losses he's been 3 for 15. Nothing changes and opponent doesn't really matter. He either hits his wide open threes or he doesn't. It makes me think we'll only go as far as Jaylen takes us. Opponents clearly make Jaylen beat them. I think his confidence is sky high right now so I hope he continues this hot streak. We aren't getting to the Finals or even the ECF without him having some big games and he'll only have big games if he's hitting threes.

If you are guarding the best players you will get cooked from time to time. He still falls asleep off ball and makes mistakes. But his on-ball defense is elite. JT is very good off ball(helping, positioning etc.) but gets overpower by more physical players. Smart is elite at all things.

"He will only have big games if he is hitting 3s" can apply to JT and Kemba as well. But it's not really true for any of them, unless a big game means the most points. When he locks up the other teams star player I think that is really big regardless if he hits 3s or not.

[kar-el]

Besides looking really good on defense, he has been crazy efficient on offense. Feels like half his shots have been three pointers, and he's knocking a ton of them down.

he really hasn't been looking really good on defense. He has his moments like usual, but others where he gets cooked on man and still others where he's lazy and lost in traffic which leads to them getting wide open looks. The narrative he's a great defender needs to die, it's never been true. Smart is a great defender. Tatum is a great defender. Jaylen and Hayward are solid defenders and neither should get praise for their defense because it's simply not true.

On offense Jaylen is incredible inconsistent. He gets wide open threes and if he's hitting, he has a good game and then we usually win. In the three wins in the bubble so far he's been 15 for 25 from three. In the two losses he's been 3 for 15. Nothing changes and opponent doesn't really matter. He either hits his wide open threes or he doesn't. It makes me think we'll only go as far as Jaylen takes us. Opponents clearly make Jaylen beat them. I think his confidence is sky high right now so I hope he continues this hot streak. We aren't getting to the Finals or even the ECF without him having some big games and he'll only have big games if he's hitting threes.

Jaylen has not been inconsistent offensively at all. In the bubble, he's scored 18-30 every game. See, if you want your arguments taken seriously, you have to apply the same criteria to everyone. So let's compare to Tatum, who's been way more up and down (5-34 points in the bubble). When he has a 2-18 stinker everyone goes "oh, he just had a bad game, he'll be fine next time." Which is true, and totally correct. But when Jaylen does anything close to that, here come the haters talking about how Jaylen is an inconsistent 4th-option 3-and-D guy. 3-15 from 3 in losses... i mean why can't he just always shoot 60% from 3's like in the wins? So inconsistent lol. It's laughable. Mike G has said several times that Jaylen has been our best player since the restart, but what does he know.

Also defensively. OK he's no Marcus Smart who is otherworldly, but he's really good. There's a reason Brad always puts Jaylen on the other team's best swing, not Tatum or Hayward. Who guarded Siakam in the last game? Jaylen. Despite Siakam being a PF and Tatum/Hayward matching up much better size-wise. But Jaylen guards him, because Brad knows Jaylen is our best swing defender. But what does Brad know right? Tatum is clearly the better defender, because Anunoby doesn't score on him but Siakam gets a couple of blowbys on Jaylen while going 5-15.

Whitout a doubt, our best player in the bubble at far.

[Feed Your Head]

But what does Brad know right? Tatum is clearly the better defender, because Anunoby doesn't score on him but Siakam gets a couple of blowbys on Jaylen while going 5-15.

To be fair, Tatum was guarding Lowry/VanVleet a majority of the time, they always put Jaylen on other teams 4s for the most part. The Jaylen/Tatum defensive debate just comes down to whether people prefer man to man defense, or team defense.

As for Jaylen and his ceiling, I’ll just quote my post from VC thread, probably made more sense here anyways.

One thing I will say about Jaylen, since bubble play has started he has had more responsibility offensively. His threes are still all off of kick outs and ball movement, but he’s been having to create his own looks at the rim, and has gotten into the paint almost at will. Plus he has made a handful of really nice passes off of penetration, which is key to his upside.

If this keeps up I think he can be more of a top 20 player, rather than top 30. I feel like he has improved more from when the season stopped into bubble play than he did last season into this one, which is pretty damn impressive and shows his work ethic.

[TommyPointGawd]

Everybody wants compare him to Tatum and seems to think he can only be good if he does what Tatum does. He fits perfectly with what Tatum does. JB is a different player. And there is no point of being reductive about how he's playing at the moment. Ceiling is the roof

[sam_I_am]

Everybody wants compare him to Tatum and seems to think he can only be good if he does what Tatum does. He fits perfectly with what Tatum does. JB is a different player. And there is no point of being reductive about how he's playing at the moment. Ceiling is the roof

I think JB is on his way to being Jimmy Butler plus whereas Tatum is more likely to be Kevin Durant lite.

[keevsnick1]

I mean coming into the bubble he was already arguably a top 30 player based on the fact he was in contention to make the all star team, you could make the argument he was better than a few of the players who actually did in the east.

The guy pulled off the rare feat of both lowering his total number of assisted field goals, while also upping his efficiency significantly. It would be one thing if he did that based off like crazy unsustainable 3pnt shooting but its really not, its more that he shot better from every single part of the floor and alot of that was just that he was able to better get to his spots. His handle improved so much that he was now able to actually create his own shot, you can't do that if you can't dribble long enough to set it up.

One thing i've been encouraged by is that he's beginning to take even more difficult 3 point shots. Scal has pointed this out in some broadcasts but he's starting to take some threes off the dribble around screens and off hand offs. We saw a really difficult deep step back three last night. He dribbled into a transition three as well. If he starts hitting off the dribble three's consistently guys can't under screens on him, and with his driving ability they're toast. I think he will, his shooting as improved so much and he appears to be testing the waters already.

Defensively if you dont think Jaylen brown is very good I dont know what to tell you. There's a reason he consistently takes the best or second best offensive option (when smart is out there). He can guard pretty much 1-4 more, he moves his feet great in iso coverage and has gotten significantly better at using his body in the post against larger guys while also getting skinny around screens chasing shooters. Now he's not GREAT as a help defender, but thats also very much not what the Celtics need him to do on this team, and he does have a pretty good ability to help and then close out hard on kick out 3 pointers which is useful.

So what is his ceiling? Probably depends on exactly how much he improves his passing ability, thats really his last below average skill. If he does that then he really becomes guy you can operate offense through, without it he tops out as a good number two option.

[Ernest]

Brown is looking really good. Seems like it's been years of everyone saying he has the skills and is athletic enough to really be something and now he is doing it every night. So few guys on the team can just drive right to the hoop and muscle it in like he does.

[bucknersrevenge]

When I look at Jaylen, this offseason, I think his shooting off the dribble and his ballhandling can get better. I honestly believe that. T-Mac wants to work with him on that very thing. He's 23. So in 3 years, he hits his prime. Continuity in an offense and maturity and experience aids overall BBIQ. Not sure if he will ever be a player who can create offense for others. But he can get better at spotting the pass that's not directly in front of him. Defensively, I think he will always be better guarding bigger defenders than smaller but that's just fine. We can certainly use that. Where I would like to see him improve in the short run is averaging more assists than turnovers. Right now though I think he knows that his job is to finish plays more than to create because we have so many other creators on this team. I wonder if/how he would adjust if say Hayward were no longer on this team and he was asked to handle more.

[brackdan70]

Dude has increased his range. I’ve seen some deep balls...The step way back 3 is falling for him.

[31to6]

Ceiling: drafting Tatum to play on Team Jaylen at the ASG.
Floor: being drafted onto Team Tatum at the ASG.
Shambles: drafted onto Team Van Vleet at the @&$@#% ASG

[Elrod is Back]

Moral of the story— patience. If a guy has great talent and a work ethic it will take time to hit his peak. These type of guys improve into their mid 20s and sometimes beyond. Jaylen’s improvement is striking, and I am not certain he doesn’t get even better in the next few seasons.

So patience.

See Langford, Romeo
See Williams, Robert

Not saying they will be all-stars, or anywhere near Jaylen, but don’t throw them overboard yet.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Dude has increased his range. I’ve seen some deep balls...The step way back 3 is falling for him.

This is his biggest development going into the bubble, IMO. He always flashed a decent step back in the high post. If he can do that from deep, I think we’d see another big leap— he can frequently blow by people offensively and forcing the defender to guard him close would give him an even bigger advantage.

If he can master the step back three he will be a fringe all NBA guy, IMO [said differently, top 20 player].

[24istheLAW]

Moral of the story— patience. If a guy has great talent and a work ethic it will take time to hit his peak. These type of guys improve into their mid 20s and sometimes beyond. Jaylen’s improvement is striking, and I am not certain he doesn’t get even better in the next few seasons.

So patience.

See Langford, Romeo
See Williams, Robert

Not saying they will be all-stars, or anywhere near Jaylen, but don’t throw them overboard yet.

If Romeo and Rob worked as hard as Jaylen, and possessed his attitude/go-getter mindset, they'd be as good as him or better. Especially Rob. They don't, and won't.

I've been a skeptic of JB (by the standards of this board) but lets recognize the rarity of the intangibles he possesses, and the improvement he's made because of them. I don't think any player Ainge has drafted has improved this much as a pro. Maybe Perk, and that's more because Perk was a high school kid and started out horrible than anything else.

[Elrod is Back]

Moral of the story— patience. If a guy has great talent and a work ethic it will take time to hit his peak. These type of guys improve into their mid 20s and sometimes beyond. Jaylen’s improvement is striking, and I am not certain he doesn’t get even better in the next few seasons.

So patience.

See Langford, Romeo
See Williams, Robert

Not saying they will be all-stars, or anywhere near Jaylen, but don’t throw them overboard yet.

If Romeo and Rob worked as hard as Jaylen, and possessed his attitude/go-getter mindset, they'd be as good as him or better. Especially Rob. They don't, and won't.

I've been a skeptic of JB (by the standards of this board) but lets recognize the rarity of the intangibles he possesses, and the improvement he's made because of them. I don't think any player Ainge has drafted has improved this much as a pro. Maybe Perk, and that's more because Perk was a high school kid and started out horrible than anything else.

That's the point. Last year as Jaylen was having a disappointing stagnant season few were extolling Jaylen's maturity, motivation, work ethic. Now it is accepted as the gospel. Patience. I think it is advised before we make any rush to judgment on Robert Williams or Romeo Langford.

Robert Williams is a dude from the middle of nowhere in Louisiana. Sort of like Perk who was from the middle of nowhere in east Texas. Sometimes these country boys are soft spoken and that is confused for laziness or stupidity. (Cue Larry Bird, when the world first was introduced to him.) Ain't so with Perk and there are good reasons to think it isn't with Rob.

As for Romeo, he was relegated to James Young Jr. purgatory by all the smart people on this board and elsewhere after being injured and then only playing a few minutes in garbage time. Now it looks like that hot take was ice cold. He may not make it, but it won't be because he is lazy or immature or unmotivated. It will be because he simply isn't talented enough. I like his chances.

[24istheLAW]

That's the point. Last year as Jaylen was having a disappointing stagnant season few were extolling Jaylen's maturity, motivation, work ethic. Now it is accepted as the gospel. Patience. I think it is advised before we make any rush to judgment on Robert Williams or Romeo Langford.

Robert Williams is a dude from the middle of nowhere in Louisiana. Sort of like Perk who was from the middle of nowhere in east Texas. Sometimes these country boys are soft spoken and that is confused for laziness or stupidity. (Cue Larry Bird, when the world first was introduced to him.) Ain't so with Perk and there are good reasons to think it isn't with Rob.

As for Romeo, he was relegated to James Young Jr. purgatory by all the smart people on this board and elsewhere after being injured and then only playing a few minutes in garbage time. Now it looks like that hot take was ice cold. He may not make it, but it won't be because he is lazy or immature or unmotivated. It will be because he simply isn't talented enough. I like his chances.

I don't think that's true though.

Since he was in college, Jaylen's makeup has been considered one of his key attributes, and he's demonstrated it every step of the way. He was advertised as a different cat. And be it choosing Cal at the expense of his NBA future for academic reasons, to reaching out to Isiah Thomas as a mentor and not hiring an agent, to improving as a shooter dramatically from college to year 1 and then again from year 1 to year 2, improving again dramatically year 3 to year 4, being the emotional leader on the court the day Gordo broke his leg, taking union rep duties, organizing self-improvement stuff for fellow players in Las Vegas. The only time he DIDN'T look like he has exceptional makeup was the 2018 season, and even then, it has been since revealed that the guys he bumped heads with are all selfish jerks and were responsible for the team underperforming.

Jaylen is somewhat clumsy at basketball, and I don't want to make it sound like I think he's an All-Star or incredibly valuable. I don't. But it's easy to see none of these guys are Jaylen.

[brackdan70]

Dude has increased his range. I’ve seen some deep balls...The step way back 3 is falling for him.

This is his biggest development going into the bubble, IMO. He always flashed a decent step back in the high post. If he can do that from deep, I think we’d see another big leap— he can frequently blow by people offensively and forcing the defender to guard him close would give him an even bigger advantage.

If he can master the step back three he will be a fringe all NBA guy, IMO [said differently, top 20 player].

Agreed. I’ve seen a couple where his step back is almost explosive. No guarding that. Add that to his ability to drive and a bit better handle he will be a force in the league for years to come.