“Jaylen Brown is a rightful candidate for the Most Improved Player.”
This statement comes from a simple question: who stepped up the most this season, and how did it happen? The Most Improved Player award is often associated with young breakouts or role players taking a leap. This season, however, Brown, one of the league’s most established stars, has made an unprecedented jump into superstardom.
Let’s look at the players with the biggest increase in offensive responsibilities. We will use Cleaning
the Glass’ Usage Rate, which is based on the volume of scoring and playmaking responsibilities. When looking at the difference between the last two seasons, only 15 players increased their offensive load by at least 5%.
Among them, six players stood out even more, with a growth of at least 7%:
▷ Dillon Brooks
▷ Michael Porter
▷ Andrew Nembhard
▷ Jaylen Brown
▷ Nickeil Alexander-Walker
▷ Ryan Rollins
When looking at their evolution, two things make Jaylen Brown’s improvement the most impressive. First, Jaylen did it while increasing his efficiency by almost 10 points per 100 shot attempts. From a league-average perspective, he went from being 4% less efficient than average to 3% above it.
Looking at the chart below, Jaylen Brown’s position in the top right makes an obvious statement: he is having one of the best improvements from last season. The other players with a similar jump in Usage Rate and points per shot attempt are Jalen Johnson, Ajay Mitchell, and Kyshawn George.
This is where Jaylen Brown’s Most Improved Player candidacy clearly separates itself from the rest. While the other three players we mentioned went from an average offensive load to secondary offensive responsibilities, Jaylen Brown went from a primary role to something close to heliocentrism.
Mitchell’s usage only increased to 23%, George’s to 22%, and Johnson is now getting close to 29%. But JB went from 29% to 37%! In the league this season, only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić are above Jaylen in offensive load. Reaching this level of responsibility while improving efficiency is rare, and arguably unprecedented.
Some of this efficiency rise comes from a jump-shooting peak after a down year, but it remains impressive considering the Celtics have worse spacing than last season. His driving and ability to generate free throws might be the biggest growth in his scoring game: he became the third-most frequent driver in the NBA (17.5 per game) and draws a foul on 15.1% of his shots (92nd percentile among wings).
The passing and the next steps
Beyond scoring, his pick-and-roll reads are also a notable upgrade. All of this happened despite losing the big men he was used to playing with. After a couple of years running pick-and-pop actions with Kristaps Porziņģis and pick-and-rolls with Luke Kornet, JB kept improving and helped Neemias Queta and Luka Garza shine in those situations.
Going from the end of the bench to a solid rotation player like Ajay Mitchell is an impressive improvement. Going from a solid rotation player to an All-Star like Jalen Johnson is rare. But going from All-Star to a top-three offensive load in the NBA is uncanny and unique — not just this season, but in NBA history.
What is even more surprising is that there is still room for improvement. Jaylen could become more efficient and approach the level of the efficiency monsters that are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokić. His passing has improved every season, and he could eventually catch up with elite playmakers like Anthony Edwards or Donovan Mitchell.
Defensively, too, despite strong on-ball instincts, better focus and sharper court reading could make him a more impactful defender, pushing him closer to the two-way impact of players like Jayson Tatum or Antetokounmpo.
Before looking too far down the road, this season deserves to be acknowledged for what it is: the unprecedented rise of a player who took on one of the biggest offensive loads in the league, on a competitive team, and became an even greater scorer and playmaker. And if you’re still not convinced this is unprecedented, Jaylen Brown would become the most experienced player ever to win MIP — in his 10th season — surpassing Hedo Türkoğlu, who previously held that mark in his eighth.
