In this series, we’ll look at the biggest statistical shifts from last season to this one to understand how Celtics players have evolved — even while wearing the same jersey.
Roles don’t always change with
trades or new contracts. Sometimes, they change more quietly, through usage, shot selection, and responsibility. Jaylen Brown’s season is a perfect example.
Coming into the season, the expectation was that everybody would take on a bigger share of the offensive responsibility. But who would take the biggest piece of the cake?
It turns out Jaylen Brown was the hungriest man at the table. His usage rate increased by eight percentage points, according to Cleaning the Glass — the fifth-largest jump across the entire league.
The All-Star starter isn’t just carrying a bigger offensive load; he’s also creating more of that offense by himself. The share of his field goals that are assisted dropped by 11%, a clear sign of increased self-creation. At the rim and beyond the arc, Brown is now generating most of his offense on his own, with only 34% of his baskets being assisted — putting him in rare company given both his volume and responsibility.
Another indicator of that self-creation spike: his drives per game jumped from 12 to 18, while his pull-up attempts rose from six to 11 per game. Brown is one of the NBA’s highest-volume scorers, but his efficiency still sits closer to league average than true MVP territory. He currently scores 1.16 points per shot, while players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all above 1.30.
Still, this individual scoring boom has pushed Brown into another tier — and it was rewarded with a spot in the All-Star Game’s starting five.
Below is an overview of his statistical evolution, via Cleaning the Glass:
