Ramp to Camp: What should Jaylen Brown add to his bag this season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Death. Taxes. Jaylen Brown adding something to his bag over the summer.
These are life’s only certainties. And before you even try to protest with something like, “Well, it was a short summer, so are we really sure JB is going to add something new to the toolbox this year?” just go chart his development since he’s arrived in Boston. Brown will find something to improve upon this season.
Every single season, Brown comes back a little better. He’s got a pair of shiny postseason MVP trophies from Boston’s title run to show his progress.
So what might be new in 2024-25? For the third installment of our Ramp to Camp 2024 series, we asked our NBC Sports Boston panel to pick one area that they hoped Brown would improve for the 2024-25 campaign. (Check out the first and second Ramp to Camp installments here.)
Brown’s strides are well-documented. Last season, he took on the challenge of defending elite scorers and wiggled his way into All-Defense consideration. Brown’s playmaking and vision has made notable strides. The offensive game continues to grow with Brown seemingly becoming more lethal in the midrange.
So what still needs improvement? The most popular answer among our panel was Brown’s free-throw shooting. He plummeted to 70.3 percent shooting at the charity stripe last season after shooting career-best 76.5 percent in 2022-23. What’s more, Brown shot only 66 percent at the line in the postseason.
We could quibble about how his defensive rebound percentage dipped, but everyone’s rebound rate went down with Kristaps Porzingis on the floor, and Brown was more aggressive on the boards in the postseason, particularly when Porzingis was sidelined.
If we’re going to nitpick, we’d yearn for Brown’s 3-point shot to become just a little more efficient. Back in his first All-Star season in 2020-21, Brown shot 39.7 percent beyond the arc. Since that season he’s been at 35.8, 33.5, and 35.4 percent, respectively, over the last three campaigns. Brown even getting north of league average (36.6 percent) beyond the arc would make him even more of a three-level threat who can really stress defenses.
Here’s what our panel wants to see from a player who will always find some sort of motivation regardless of his accomplishments:
This is very specific, but when Brown recognizes a favorable matchup for a teammate in the post, can he eliminate the lobs into the stands?
Tom Giles, Multi-platform host
I actually look forward to seeing Brown’s growth on the defensive end. Last season, we started seeing him hunt the opposing team’s best player late in games. And we certainly saw his defensive impact in the postseason.
How much further can Brown push that to make sure he doesn’t get left off an All-Defense team again?
Mark Hazlett, Multi-platform producer
A picture of Grant Hill for motivation — or an 80 percent free-throw stroke.
Improved free-throw shooting. The charity stripe was Brown’s Achilles heel last season, as his 70.3 percent free throw percentage was his worst since the 2018-19 season.
Brown improved in almost every other area last season, so we’d like to see him take a brief break from those underwater workouts and hoist a few more free throws.
Improved free-throw shooting. It was painful to watch at points last season and during the playoffs.
Baseline turnaround jump shot.
Kevin Miller, VP, Content: 2. 76ers, 3. Bucks, 4. Knicks, 5. Cavs
More playmaking. Brown showed signs of improvement in the playoffs, but he has another step to take there.
