In the 2016 NBA.com Rookie Survey, Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown is viewed by his peers as the most athletic player in the class, a contender for Kia Rookie of the Year and a potential Draft-night steal. All that said, Brown will get his first taste of NBA life in less than a week when the Celtics open camp and he is competing for minutes, a role and more. In an interview on Bill Simmons‘ podcast on The Ringer, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he expects Boston’s veteran players to push Brown to succeed:
Most top lottery picks join bad teams, but the Celtics were able to select Brown after a 48-win season. Instead of being handed minutes on a shabby roster, the No. 3 overall pick will need to earn them against a load of proven players. That could pose some issues — Brown won’t receive as much on-court experience as he would with, say, the Sacramento Kings — but Stevens also thinks the talent level will push Brown.
“I think Jaylen’s in a good situation to learn and grow because he’s coming into a team that has some perimeter players who are very established that will make him very uncomfortable in practice every single day,” Stevens said during a recent appearance on The Ringer’s NBA podcast with Bill Simmons. “And they’ll do it on both ends of the floor. For him to have to be matched up against Jae (Crowder) or Avery (Bradley), or if we play him at the 4 some against a Jae (Crowder) or a Jonas (Jerebko), whatever the case may be, those are hard matchups. And that should a great — that should be the best part of the learning curve for Jaylen.”
Stevens said he is “looking forward to coaching” Brown, a 6-foot-7 wing with enough size, strength and athleticism to one day defend at least two or three positions. It’s not clear exactly how much of an impact the rookie will make right away, but that didn’t stop Simmons from dreaming about the defensive potential of a lineup with Brown, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder and Al Horford.
“I think that you could throw a couple of other names in there too and still really be able to move around, fly around the court, full rotate and/or switch,” Stevens said, indirectly referring to other players on the roster like Jerebko and Amir Johnson who can slide their feet to stick with smaller guys. “You’ve got some defensive versatility and flexibility there. Now, I’ve been in a situation before where we’re coming off a very good year defensively statistically, like our team is (as a top-five defense last season). And you can take it one of two ways: you can take the approach that we’ve arrived, and not commit to the details, and just think it’s going to happen. Or you can become even better in those little things, realize that if this group becomes great in details it’s got a chance to be a very good defense because of the way we impact the ball. Then we could be good. But it could go either way. So the best answer I can give you right now is time will tell, but I am excited to try those things. And as we get ready for training camp those are things (lineup ideas) that are all over my board.”
As he often does, Stevens touted the importance of defensive versatility, calling guys who can guard several positions “invaluable.” Brown could emerge as that type of defender one day, but the coaches wants to remember their youngest player remains a teenager.
“Another thing is we have to constantly remind ourselves as a staff that he’s 19, he’s one year removed from one year of college,” Stevens said. “And I think that he’s got a high upside and we’re looking forward to working with him, but I think we also understand he’s got a large learning curve.”
