Jaylen Brown Sixers advanced stats, Digi Mart USA News: The 76ers have been cautious about their 9-2 start, and Jaylen Brown has been among the most outspoken about the work still ahead. After Sunday’s win over the Bulls, Brown was asked how the team has avoided growing pains in its first 11 games.
“You don’t think we got growing pains?” Brown said. “From our perspective, it’s been some growing pains for sure.
Even though we’ve been able to win, we’ve still got a lot better to get, a lot more to improve on.”
Brown said the team is focused less on the result and more on the process. “We’ve got to improve our process and our mentality to create a winning environment,” he said.
Brown is set to face the Boston Celtics, the team he played for over a decade, including the 2024 championship season when he was NBA Finals MVP. Over the summer, analysts and front office executives debated how much Brown contributed to that winning environment, closely examining his advanced metrics, especially his on/off court splits.
On/off data measures how much better or worse a team performs with a player on the court compared with off it. According to Cleaning the Glass, which filters out garbage time, the Sixers are 6.7 points per 100 possessions better with Brown on the floor through 11 games.
That would be the second-best mark of his career over a full season. Last season, he was a minus-5.6 while posting the best statistical season of his career, with averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
Much of Brown’s positive impact this season comes from his willingness to take on tough defensive assignments for a Sixers defense that ranks fifth in defensive rating. According to NBA tracking compiled by JackBorman.com, Brown has guarded a top-30 usage player on 21.6% of possessions, slightly more than VJ Edgecombe’s 20.1%.
By that measure, Brown has saved an average of 6.9 points per 100 possessions, a very good mark.
Brown has also taken a smaller offensive role. His usage rate was 36.6% with the Celtics last season, when Jayson Tatum was recovering from an Achilles injury.
This season it is 25.3%, his lowest since the 2019-20 season. He has also reduced his turnovers.
His turnover rate is 9.6%, which would be the best of his career and sits in the 74th percentile of players.
