NBA Insider Makes Shocking Jaylen Brown Evaluation Amid Celtics Trade Rumors
As the Boston Celtics evaluate their trade options for Jaylen Brown, other teams around the NBA might not be sold on making him their go-to guy.
Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio, ESPN's Bobby Marks explained there are "mixed feelings" about Brown throughout the league and one analytics person went so far as to claim he is the "seventh-best player" on a team.
Before the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to send Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, the Celtics reportedly offered Brown and two first-round picks to Milwaukee in exchange for the two-time NBA MVP.
Even after that deal didn't materialize for the Celtics, they are continuing to have trade talks with other teams involving Brown.
While the seventh-best player on a team feels absurd, it's not a surprise an analytics person would offer that assessment of Brown. He has never been an analytics darling due in part to his limited three-point shooting and high turnover rates.
Brown finished sixth in MVP voting last season for averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, but he shot just 34.7 percent from three on 5.7 attempts per contest and averaged 3.6 turnovers.
If you go by player efficiency rating, Brown's 22.0 mark tied for 10th in the NBA with Karl-Anthony Towns. His 6.9 win shares were identical to San Antonio Spurs backup center Luke Kornet.
Even with those numbers not necessarily valuing Brown as highly as the MVP voters did last season, there's no way he'd be the seventh-best player on a team unless it's a club like the Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder with all of their depth.
It could, however, indicate the market for Brown might not be as robust as one would think for a player coming off a sixth-place MVP finish and second-team All-NBA selection.
