TITLE: Brown balks at Brunson’s Player of the Month award; Boston’s bench surge reshapes deadline calculus
SLUG: brown-brunson-player-of-month-celtics-bench-surge
CONTENT:
Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown publicly questioned the NBA’s decision to name Jalen Brunson the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December. Shortly after the league announced the honor, Brown replied to the NBA’s social-media post with the abbreviation “Smh,” signaling his disbelief.
Statistically, Brown outpaced the New York Knicks guard during the month, while the teams finished with comparable records — Boston went 9-3; New York posted a 10-4 mark and captured the inaugural NBA Cup. Brown told reporters that awards conversations lean too heavily on scoring totals and three-point numbers, overlooking his two-way contributions.
“On any given night I can pick up guys full court,” Brown said. “I guard fours, threes, twos, even point guards. Any given night I can take over a game defensively and offensively. A real impact is dominating on both ends, and I think I can do both.”
Bench production eases starter workload
Improved reserve play is altering head coach Joe Mazzulla’s rotation — and possibly the front office’s trade-deadline plans — according to MassLive’s Brian Robb. Early in the season, Boston leaned heavily on its starting five, but Thursday’s win in Sacramento highlighted the second unit’s progress. Luka Garza, Sam Hauser and Anfernee Simons all reached double figures, and fellow reserve Hugo Gonzalez posted a team-best +20 net rating.
The deeper bench limited rookie starter Jordan Walsh to five minutes. Mazzulla said the brief appearance was not punitive. “We can go to so many different things,” he explained. “It’s really just taking any advantage we can with the entire roster and trying to win segments of the game.”
Open roster spot likely to stay vacant for now
In a mailbag column, Robb wrote that Boston is expected to keep its lone roster vacancy open until late in the regular season, waiting to see if injuries dictate a specific need. If front-court depth becomes a priority, two-way center Amari Williams would be the leading internal candidate for a promotion. Otherwise, the team could look at veteran guard Ron Harper Jr., who owns three seasons of NBA experience.
Source: Hoops Rumors
