Jaylen Brown is this generation’s Al Jefferson for the Celtics
The ascension of Jaylen Brown has been one of the biggest storylines of the past few seasons for the Boston Celtics.
Culminating in this past season, where the 24-year-old averaged 24.7 points on 48.4/39.7/76.4 shooting splits en route to his first All-Star selection. On top of that, he also saw career-highs in usage rate (29.7), value over replacement player (2.3) and true shooting percentage (58.6).
However, the Celtics as a whole were far from as impressive. As fun as the duo of he and Jayson Tatum have become, the following remains true: Jayson Tatum is the best player on the roster, and the Celtics need to do whatever it takes to keep him happy. He’s the ticket to the next great Celtics roster.
So, as great as Jaylen Brown has become, and as great as he could still be as he approaches his prime, he should still be viewed as this generation’s Al Jefferson for Celtics basketball.
Yes, you read that right.
The talent disparity makes the take a laugher at face value, but the take itself needs to be viewed as the metaphor that it is. Like Brown, Jefferson too ascended from year one to two to three as a Celtics center. However, his final season in Boston was one where the team was woefully disappointing. With Paul Pierce fed up with the direction the team was going, the Celtics needed to act fast: either bring in talent to make the star happy or risk losing the star and starting from Square 1.
Jefferson was the young ballplayer, blossoming into one of the game’s better bigs. He was the guy that could net the Celtics a star that would help keep Paul Pierce happy.
That star was Kevin Garnett.
In 2021, it’s Wizards guard Bradley Beal.
As the game continues to change, tampering is essentially encouraged. Everybody wants to form super teams, win NBA titles and cement their legacy amongst the all-time greats. Both being from St. Louis, Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal are incredibly close. Tatum has said, on record, that he views Beal as the big brother he never had.
If you’re Brad Stevens, that should be your call to action.
As a disgruntled star in the NBA, are you more likely to be willed into coming to Boston by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal? Beal, 28, is coming off of a season where he scored north of 31 points-per-game and Tatum, 23, just averaged north of 26. While Brown is still ascending in proximity to the prime of his career, you don’t know if he’s peaked. As for Beal, you know that he’s better than Jaylen Brown already at this stage in their respective careers — you’ll likely be swayed more by a Tatum-Beal recruitment package.
Boston, and the history of the Celtics organization, isn’t enough. You need two star-to-superstar-level players to do your bidding for you. You also need to keep your stars happy; pairing him with his best friend might be the best course of action.
Brown is the Al Jefferson to get your Kevin Garnett. Beal isn’t a top-three player ever at his position, but he might be the key to keeping Jayson Tatum in Boston for good.
Don’t even give him the chance to sour on being in Boston. Trade Jaylen Brown as the headlining piece in a deal to acquire Bradley Beal.