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I'll admit it: I was wrong about Jaylen Brown. One hundred percent.
Before the season started, I was against the idea of the Boston Celtics giving him a contract extension. Not only was it something the Celtics didn't typically do, but Brown hadn't proven himself enough to warrant a big payday just yet.
Of course, Boston ended up handing Brown a $115 million deal, which raised plenty of eyebrows.
All eyes were on the 23-year-old going into the 2019-20 campaign as a result, and thus far, he has delivered in a big way.
He has missed three games due to an illness, but during the six games he has been on the floor, he has averaged 19.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists over 31.3 minutes per game while shooting 53.0 percent from the floor, 30.4 percent from 3-point range and 77.4 percent from the free-throw line.
It would be nice to see him bump up his long-range efficiency to his career average of 36.4 percent, but that just seems like nitpicking right now.
To put it plainly, Brown has been fantastic on both ends and almost looks like a completely different player than he did a year ago.
Whether it's having more freedom with Kyrie Irving gone, Brown simply maturing or a combination of both (or maybe it's the haircut?), he has been one of the best two-way wings in the NBA thus far this season.
One main improvement to point out with Brown is his free-throw shooting.
Over his first three seasons, Brown shot 68.5, 64.4 and 65.8 percent from the charity stripe, respectively. Over the first couple of weeks of this year, however, Brown is making 77.4 percent of his foul shots on fairly high volume (5.2 attempts per game).
It's a small sample size, but the fact that Brown is getting to the foul line regularly and is making his free throws is a huge plus.
Brown has also been cleaning the glass and looks much more comfortable and decisive with the ball in his hands, unlike much of his first three seasons when he frequently looked like he didn't know what to do when he had possession.
Maybe we all should have expected this based on Brown's raw ability. No one ever really doubted his talent; it was just a matter of whether or not he could put it all together. Remember, we saw flashes of his brilliance during the 2018 playoffs, which was just his second season.
Brown is a freakish athlete with very good size and length, and while his basketball IQ appeared to be a question early on, he seems to have adjusted and is undeniably making smarter plays this season.
Obviously, we can't get too far ahead of ourselves, as we aren't even a month into the season yet. But it would be unfair to not heap praise upon Brown after doubting whether he was deserving of an extension last month.
With Gordon Hayward sidelined for the next six weeks, expect Brown's role to grow even more. Based on his production thus far, we can probably expect more impressive play from the youngster.
