Every year of his career, Jaylen Brown has found a way to improve his game. It’s like clockwork. A season ends, he identifies something to work on, and he comes back the next year as a new player. This past year, his playmaking and decision-making took a huge jump. But what about next season?
The ceiling is inching closer for Brown. Not because he can’t get better but because of how great he already is. Fresh off a year where he won Eastern Conference finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP, what else is there for Brown to get better at?
The answer is everything.
Jaylen Brown can turn the NBA on its head by simply fine-tuning his game
Toward the beginning of his career, Brown wasn’t an amazing three-point shooter. He’s still not super efficient, but he’s made unfathomable improvements from beyond the arc. His overall shot-making has taken a huge jump, too.
After that, there was his defense. Though his off-ball defense could still use a little tune-up, he’s one of the most ferocious point-of-attack defenders in the NBA. Then, after a record-breaking eight turnovers in Game 7 against the Miami Heat in 2023, he came back in 2024 as a new player in that regard.
So, when looking at what Brown could improve on in the 2024-25 season, the answer is all of the above. For Brown, it’s no longer about picking on area and focusing on it. It’s about perfecting the minutiae of every aspect of the game.
The three-point shooting is there for Brown, but his catch-and-shoot game could still use some work. He shot 35.3% on catch-and-shoot threes last year, which is solid. But moving that number up to around 38% would make a massive difference.
Brown is already one of the best mid-range shooters in the league, and his driving is top-notch. If he can improve his free-throw shooting, his number would go up across the board.
As a point-of-attack defender, there are few players in the league as intense as Brown. If he can keep his off-ball defense consistent, he’d be one of the most well-rounded defenders in the NBA.
His improvements as a playmaker last year were huge, but if he can be even more consistent when driving and kicking, the Celtics would benefit.
There is no true weakness in Brown’s game anymore. He’s already one of the best all-around wings in the NBA. But if he can make tiny improvements in every area of his game rather than focusing all of his energy on getting better at one skill, the NBA won’t know what hit it.
