Nylon Calculus: Jaylen Brown’s shooting has helped him embrace his new role

Jaylen Brown’s burgeoning proficiency as a spot-up shooter has supported growth in other areas of his offensive game, helping him take an enormous leap.

Jaylen Brown’s third season in the NBA was a seesaw in production. Despite the Celtics reaching the second round of the playoffs, Brown had his share of struggles adjusting to a different role. After starting 70 games in his sophomore campaign in the NBA, Brad Stevens had him come off the bench last season. Although he saw a drop in minutes, his usage increased as he led the second unit. His numbers didn’t reflect well, however. Brown saw a drop in his counting and efficiency stats.

There was a decrease in his points and rebounds per game. His 3-point and true shooting percentages dropped five and two percentage points respectively. He finished the 2018-19 season with a Box Plus-Minus rating of -2.1, almost two whole points worse than the previous year. Brown was decent in the postseason with a true shooting percentage of 62.4 and averaged nearly 14 points. But the Celtics were quickly dispatched by the Bucks in five games, capping off tumultuous season.

This past offseason, Boston signed Brown to a four-year, $115 million contract. With his current rookie deal almost up, Danny Ainge and the Celtics showed their faith in him by offering a huge extension. The deal certainly had its share of risks to it. Brown had his fair share of ups and downs the year prior, showing no real leap in performance throughout the regular season. With Jayson Tatum emerging as a superstar along with the free-agent acquisition of Kemba Walker, it was fair to question where Brown fit with the Celtics. Signing a player to that type of deal is no small thing and it was almost certain that Brown had to take a step up next season, not only for himself but the contract extension as well.

Fast forward a couple of months and the initial returns seem to be overly positive for both parties. Boston is tied for second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 27-12 along with being top ten in offensive rating (111.2) and defensive rating (103.8). They have been the fourth-best team in the NBA according to net rating and look like a strong contender to finish with a top-three seed in the East playoffs. Along with the play of Walker at the point, Boston has gotten a huge boost from Jayson Tatum who has seen his points per game average go up by six points while maintaining nearly the same shooting efficiency. Gordon Hayward has begun to show signs of being the same player he was before the gruesome ankle injury he suffered two seasons ago. But there’s another key cog in the Celtics offense in Brown. With Walker and Tatum attracting the attention of most defenses, there needs to be someone who can help relieve the pressure. Someone who can also score on their own when those two take a seat on the bench. Enter Jaylen Brown.

He has also seen his scoring numbers jump up this season. Averaging 33 minutes this season, third-highest on the Celtics, Brown’s point per game numbers have jumped from 13 to 20.0 while averaging three more rebounds this season as well. He’s taking more 3-pointers and is shooting five percentage points better on them at 39.5 percent. Brown’s efficiency numbers have looked much better as well with his true shooting percentage going from 54.7 to 59.8 percent. What’s even more admirable about Brown’s growth this season has been that he’s doing with a small uptick of just over two percentage points in usage percentage. He’s been given more responsibility in this offense and has responded by taking leaps in his game. The part of his game that Brown has made his bread and butter so far this season has been in spot-up situations. Brown’s been one of the best players in the NBA when it comes to shooting the ball from a standstill position. He’s been taking and making a lot of those shots.

Through 30 games, Brown has been averaging 5.5 spot-up possessions per game, second-most in the NBA behind Taurean Prince. In terms of actual field goal attempts out of those possessions, he’s tied with Prince for first with 5.1. While it only amounts to a frequency percentage of 29.9 percent, Brown is still exceptional when it comes to hitting spot-up jumpers. He’s scoring 1.16 points per possession on spot-ups, second to Karl Anthony Towns. Sometimes with high volume shooters, we see a drop in efficiency but not with Brown. His effective field goal percentage is 59.3 percent, third-highest among players who take more than 4 spot-ups per game. Brown is the go-to guy in these situations for Boston. His number of possessions is first on the team. His eFG is second to Hayward but Brown also takes more than two more spot-up attempts than him.

This has been a career year for Brown in terms of spot-ups. He wasn’t always a steady shooter on spot-up attempts. Last season he was shooting an effective field goal percentage of 52.8 despite averaging 3.8 field goal of that play type. The year prior the shooting numbers looked good (58.3 effective field goal percentage) but the volume wasn’t there (3.7 attempts). This seems to be the season where Brown has put it all together and has flourished in this Celtics offense.

Brown’s shot-making has helped the Celtics offense tremendously. With defenses locking in on Tatum and Walker, someone has to be ready to receive a pass and shoot at a moment’s notice. It’s clear that when given the opportunity by defenses, he’s making them pay by knocking down shots. 91.3 percent of his 3-point makes and 69.4 of his overall made jump shots have been assisted. It’s certainly helped him look a lot more confident offensively as he has been attempting four more field goals per game this season than the year prior.

While Tatum, Walker, and Marcus Smart may take the spotlight for helping the Celtics to have one of the best records in the East, Brown needs in on the credit either. He’s seemed to fully embrace his role within the offense and it’s kept things humming offensively. Whenever a spot-up jumper is needed, Brown is there to answer the call.