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Rookie forward Jaylen Brown wants nothing more but to be part of the Boston Celtics‘ plans moving forward into next season.
The Cal product was adamant about playing in the Summer League and evolving his game to assure his immediate involvement with the team.
“Jaylen came right into my office and said, ‘I’m playing this summer,’” Celtics president Danny Ainge told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “And I said, ‘OK, tell me what’s on your mind.’ And he pretty much just said, ‘Because I don’t want anybody to even think that I’m not ready right now. I’m ready to play and I’m ready to win.’
“He emphasized the point of now. He doesn’t want us thinking he’s two or three years away. He wants to be included in our plans this very minute. Of course he is, but it just tells you a little bit about Jaylen. He wants to be great.”
The move might also have a lot to do with the poker game Ainge will be part of during the next few weeks, and even the next few months, as he looks for possibilities to wheel-and-deal for the best package possible in hopes of improving the roster.
Brown had a good showing despite being thrown into the fire this postseason, but is still ways away from being a reliable starter at the small forward position.
While his best bet would be to garner solid playing time off the bench, his willingness to play in the Summer League could just be the difference to keep him off potential trade talks with a president that has been known to put no limits on his cards.
“I just love that mentality,” Ainge said of Brown's intent to play this summer, assuring that Brown's rookie year experience, though abrupt, was just what he needed. “If you’re not playing hard, you’re not playing, and when you make mistakes, you come out of the game and you’ve got to know what you’re supposed to be doing, and you’re held to the same standards as veteran players.”
