Brown has developed a knack for screeching to a halt in the paint, holding his pivot foot, and faking and pivoting as defenders drift by like crashing waves.
Brown will take every bit of the allotted three seconds. (
Domantas Sabonis also is a wizard at this, only he finishes with more violence.) It is a useful display of patience from a guy who came into the season known as a full-speed-ahead straight-line driver.
Brown has flashed more nuance and craft in making a mini-leap toward All-Star status. He is shooting a career-best 57% on 2s.
Boston's refusal to include Brown in trade talks for
Kawhi Leonard was a fork-in-the-road moment. It looked dumb as Leonard led the Raptors to the championship. Boston in the aggregate has probably acted too cautiously -- and with too much confidence last season in its plan to lure
Anthony Davis.
But Toronto gave up nothing near Brown's level of long-term importance in trading for Leonard. The Raptors barely got through the second round. Milwaukee shoved them to the brink of a 3-0 deficit in the conference finals. Leonard left. Was he always leaving? Boston bet he was.
Brown is doing what he can to help Boston live with its choice. He won't become a franchise-level star unless he improves his playmaking, but he is growing across the board.