Could Philadelphia 76ers Land At 3, 3 Seasons In A Row?

Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown is a 6′ 7″ 220 pound small forward freshman from the University of California.  When we talk about the prospects who are most intriguing to the Philadelphia 76ers, we cannot ignore the fact taht this is a transition team with the most turnovers in the NBA.
While the team has improved in that area dramatically, it is still an area of great concern.   The team has averaged 16.2 turnovers per game this season, but has brought that number down into the low teens in the month of March.

OFFENSE

Brown would help improve on that number, as he truly shines in transition. Brown is a player who works very hard on the defensive glass, which provides him opportunities to begin fast break offenses with a cool grab-and-go. He can push the ball up the court, can change speeds in a fraction of a second and attack a scrambling defense with explosiveness.  He can finish at the rim with surprising power, even able to elevate to a nice shooting look out of one foot.  Brown could find the Sixers a great place to land, as he be joining teammates who would  push the ball as well, linking him into the alley oops of Nerlens Noel and as a counterpart to the elite passing of incoming Dario Saric.  He would even slot into an excellent counterbalance to an offense focused on a post game featuring either Jahlil Okafor or Joel Embiid.

Strengths

But the Sixers need more in a wing man than just a kid who can pass, and Brown delivers. He has proven an ability to create shots for himself in isolation and out of the pick-and-roll.   He won’t win on his burst moves, but he has a hesitation stutter step that adds enough confusion to allow him to get by his man one-on-one when a path to the basket opens up.   Brown is posting a 53.5 percent free throw rate while averaging 8.5 foul shots per 40 minutes.

Weaknesses

He has weaknesses, but they align nicely with the Sixers development.  He makes poor choices of shot selection. Despite being a poor outside shooter, Brown takes a lot of pull-ups despite showing side-to-side fluidly.  He can make excellent use of shot fakes to create separation but holds onto the ball too long, eventually releasing his shot on his way down, missing 72 percent of his 52  jump shots on the season.    The great news is?  This can all be corrected with the Philadelphia 76ers basketball analytics.

DEFENSE

Strengths

Brown possesses the physical profile to be an impact defender and provide positional flexibility. He gets on a stance defending on the ball and stays in a stance on the weak-side as well, enabling him to react with quickness — with his speed allowing him to  close out to shooters and keep his balance in the process, which makes it tough for the opponent to blow by him off the bounce.   He has good lateral quickness to keep pace in isolation and has a 7-0 wingspan to contest shots effectively and be a threat to block shots as the trailer recovering from navigating over ball-screens.  He has strength to box out bigger players and plenty of athleticism chasing the ball off the rim, collecting 19.3 percent of opponents’ misses this season.

Weaknesses

Despite his ability to leap off the ground in a pinch and his positioning defending close to the basket, Brown has blocked just nine shots in 17 appearances. Moreover, his length and wingspan has not yet translated into shutting down passing lanes.  He has not defended with active hands guarding on the ball, also recording just nine steals in 17 appearances.

Overall, this is a young man who is a top NBA project but one who has the need to continue pursuing his game to become an NBA polished veteran.  His shot selection and defensive approach weaknesses are quite common with NBA rookies, and if selected by the Philadelphia 76ers, will be immediately addressed and continue to be a focus area.  His upside is truly an elite two way player and that definitely will place him on the short list on the Sixers potential draft selections.

Next: Kris Dunn