Getty Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
After losing four of their last five games, the Boston Celtics are in quite the funk and will be looking for ways to get back to their best in the coming weeks.
However, according to Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, the Celtics won’t reach their full potential until they figure out how to maintain their elite-level offense when Jayson Tatum isn’t on the floor.
My main takeaways from the Celtics being subpar this December are
1. Tatum isn’t finding his rhythm
2. Jaylen + bench lineups are flat out bad
3. Blake minutes are out of control right now
4. Not enough consistent stretches defensively from the team
5. White/Hauser regression
“In 771 possessions without Tatum, Boston has a net rating of plus-1.4, ranking in the 59th percentile, or about league average. With its superstar, however, this figure jumps to plus-9.3 and is in the 93rd percentile. Finding ways to still beat opponents shouldn’t be this difficult, especially with another two-way force at forward in Jaylen Brown…Trying to find ways to maximize Brown when Tatum rests will be crucial to the Celtics’ success, especially in the postseason,” Swartz wrote on December 20.
On December 18, we saw how frail Boston’s offense can look without their MVP-caliber forward, as they failed to score 100 points against an Orlando Magic team that has struggled for relevancy since the 2022-23 NBA season began – which was to be expected considering they’re a rebuilding team.
Jaylen Brown Believes Refs are Targeting Him
Jaylen Brown has never been a primary playmaker, partly due to his inability to take care of the ball throughout the course of a game. In fact, in Brown’s 432 career regular-season games, Brown has made 924 assists but has turned the rock over 844 times, giving him almost a 1:1 turnover ratio.
When speaking to the media, Brown spoke about his frustration with the game officials, noting how he believes they’re targeting him for traveling calls, which of course lead to turnovers on the stats sheet.
Jaylen Brown says: “It seems like every f*****g game” referees are targeting him for traveling violations
📺Full Interview: t.co/IEqc5BEgMY
“It just seemed like we turned the ball over. We had a lot of travels. That’s something I’ve got to work on, I guess…They pick and choose where they emphasize the traveling call. But it seems like every f****** game, like, ‘that’s [Brown] the person I’m targeting.’ But you look around the league, you know, you could pinpoint a lot of players doing the same thing. So, you can’t pick and choose when you want to call stuff, but it’s something I’m gonna work on. Definitely keep that pivot foot down because a lot of my turnovers tonight came from travel calls,” Jaylen Brown said.
Turnovers aside, Brown has been operating at an All-Star level this season, providing the Celtics with 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 49.6% shooting from the field and 33.8% shooting from deep.
Celtics Could Trade For Cam Reddish
Fixing Brown’s turnovers aside, another way in which the Celtics could improve their bench rotation so that their struggles without Tatum are reduced is by trading for an additional wing who can act as a two-way spark plug.
According to Tim Sheils, who was speaking on a December 12 episode of CLNS Media’s Vitamin C’s podcast, Cam Reddish could be the ideal target to ease Boston’s struggle during non-Tatum minutes – assuming the New York Knicks are willing to make a deal.
“I don’t know if you saw the Knicks news, but Cam Reddish is not happy…And, apparently, apparently, allegedly, he could be had for a second-round (draft) pick…I’m pretty sure he would fit in the Juancho Hernangomez TPE, and you could hypothetically flip a second for him, and it’s the question of whether or not he’s worth it, really, in terms of tax dollars,” Sheils said.
Regardless of how Boston looks to address this ‘flaw,’ they will be hoping to get back into the win column when they face the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, December 21.
Comments