A dark horse has emerged from the shadows for consideration by the Boston Celtics with the No. 3 overall draft pick: Cal forward Jaylen Brown.
According to a report by Chad Ford of ESPN on Saturday, Brown may be rising in the draft after a strong showing in workouts, and the Celtics are “seriously considering” taking him at No. 3.
Brown, 19, averaged 14.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, and 2.0 assists per game in his lone season for the Golden Bears last year, earning First-team All-Pac-12 honors. He is the epitome of a scoring wing with excellent physical attributes and explosiveness to boot. For a Celtics team that lacks a true primary scoring threat (5-foot-9 Isaiah Thomas served as the de facto No. 1 option for them last season), Brown could develop into that guy within a couple of years.
But Brown needs to improve his quality of his shots as he had a tendency at Cal to get reckless with his drives to the basket and turn the ball over or to settle for too many long contested jumpers off the dribble. He shot just 43.1 percent from the field last season, including a grotesque 29.1 percent from deep and 65.4 percent from the line. Additionally, while he has the physical gifts to excel at one-on-one defense, Brown still lacks discipline on that end.
Right now, we’re not even sure the Celtics are sold on keeping the pick. But with Brown, Jamal Murray, Buddy Hield, and others almost sure to be available at that slot to potentially rescue Boston from wing scorer purgatory, let’s just say that Danny Ainge has a lot of options on the table right now.
H/T Rotoworld
