Are the Boston Celtics‘ All-NBA duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum among the best star pairings in the league? Not if you ask Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, it seems. The B/R analyst has the twosome in his “honorable mention” category in a recent league-wide survey of the NBA’s best duos with Joel Embiid and James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ahead of Tatum and Brown? In reverse order, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday from the Milwaukee Bucks, and Kevin Durant and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns.
And while Swartz says he “heavily” uses “success with both players on the court last season,” the order noted suggests the “estimated plus-minus and estimated wins data” aspect of his rubric is weighted much more heavily given only the Nuggets duo outperformed Boston’s last season.
Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck had nothing but love for Marcus Smart in a recent interview with the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. https://t.co/NVY3YZtpJu
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 7, 2023
As for his specific breakdown of Tatum and Brown, Swartz writes that even with “six years of experience and a trip to the NBA Finals together, Tatum and Brown fell short of cracking the top five.”
Why? “Brown’s EPM score of plus-2.6 ranked just 46th overall in the NBA, and the two stars combined for a modest plus-5.2 net rating in 3,376 total possessions together, which was actually lower than Boston’s overall net of plus-6.9.”
“Both are still improving and should be tied to each other for years to come with Brown’s new monster deal and another coming for Tatum next summer, although some overlapping skills hold them back from the league’s elite here.”
There has been a fair amount of sticker shock over star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown’s recent supermax contract extension, but some analysts are also concerned about how the deal will … https://t.co/okSYLiKXwC
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 7, 2023
Another aspect that could be adding some noise in this assessment is a definition of what counts as a “good duo” — is it weighted towards team success or individual statistics?
If more the latter, as could be the case, the addition of Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason could also explain why some of those forward-facing metrics seem to value this duo less than what they have done in the past might.
Brown cannot be traded to any team in the NBA even if all parties agreed it was for the best due to the terms of his new supermax contract extension. https://t.co/DxAc6r2VCh
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 8, 2023
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