When Danny Ainge selected Jaylen Brown out of the University of California with the third pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, his selection was met with uncertainty and a bit of confusion.
Part of that confusion stemmed from the idea that maybe Ainge knew something the fans, broadcasters, and writers didn't.
Ainge selected Brown over an enticing, athletic, seven-footer with handles and a three point shot by the name of Dragan Bender. Many people pegged Bender as a prime candidate for the hight-lacking, rebound-needing Celtics.
Others thought Ainge might pick a proven scorer, like Buddy Hield from the University of Indiana or Kris Dunn from Providence, whom would boost the Celtics offense that last year relied heavily on Isaiah Thomas for scoring.
However, after rumors of a trade for Jimmy Butler in exchange for the third pick swirled and ripped through the internet like a tornado up the Midwest, Ainge made his selection without any intention of making a trade. Now it's become clear why.
In his first NBA start, Jaylen Brown matched up against none other than the king himself, Lebron James. The Celtics, without their newly acquired star Al Horford and gritty, talented two-way presence Jae Crowder, played the Cavaliers tightly and almost squeaked out what would have been an early contender for the comeback of the year.
The C's came up short 122-128, but down two of their best players against a motivated Cavalier team loaded with veteran talent; there is still plenty of positives to take away from the game despite taking the L.
The biggest positive is how well Jaylen Brown contributed on offense, defense, and didn't look like a total rookie out there. After the game, James said in a post game interview about the rookie,"I think he’s a really good talent, and that’s why he was drafted so high. He’s a strong kid. You can see he knows how to play the game.”
Praise like that is rarely heard about any rookie in just their fist NBA start, let alone coming from King James himself.
Brown scored 19 points on 8-16 shooting, 3-6 from three. He also added five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Although James dropped his usual scoreline of 30-12-8, the rookie did not look to be overpowered or overwhelmed by the king at any point. Before the game, the Celtics' Twitter account quoted Brown talking about what it's going to be like guarding James in his first NBA start. "If I want to get to that level, I have to go through him." For a rookie with high ambitions his play has made quite the statement so far in his young NBA career.
Brown has looked comfortable on the court in each game he has appeared in so far. He displays high levels of athleticism and basketball IQ that some seasoned veterans don't even have. In an interview with Masslive.com, Brown's teammate, Terry Rozier said, "He's very athletic, so he's gonna see a lot of minutes this year, I feel. And once the game really slows down for him, it's gonna scary for a lot of people."
In a post-game press conference, Brown said of his first NBA start, "I really wasn't nervous, I was ready, anxious, excited, I wanted to come out and play some basketball. I respect Lebron, not just on the court but off... He's a great role model for somebody like me; I watched him growing up, and it's kinda shaped me into who I am now."
Brad Stevens, the coach of the Celtics, also said in a post game interview, "I thought (Brown) played really hard, obviously made shots and did a lot of good things ... I think that at the end of the day if he can bring that same tenacity and focus, especially defensively, he can just keep getting better, and that's what you want."
Clearly, when Ainge drafted Brown it was because he saw something that most of the NBA observers overlooked. And as the season is starting to unfold it's more and more evident the Celtics have found the next piece of their puzzle to winning an NBA championship.
