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From acquiring Derrick White in 2022 to swinging trades for Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in 2023, Brad Stevens made a number of masterful moves that helped the Boston Celtics win their 18th championship.
But the Celtics wouldn’t have raised Banner 18 last June without Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Tatum and Brown have blossomed into superstars in Boston. The former is a six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA First Team selection who’s one of the top five players in basketball, while the latter is a four-time All-Star who earned MVP honors in both the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
While the Jays have shown steady improvement since entering the league, they both took significant leaps last season — particularly in the playmaking department, where their assists per game shot up from 4.9 to 5.9 for Tatum and 3.6 to 4.6 for Brown.
In an exclusive interview with Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg, Stevens detailed how he’s seen Tatum and Brown evolve, especially over the last few seasons.
“Jayson’s been special from Day 1,” Stevens said. “I think the strength that he’s put on in the last few years has been really beneficial, not only in finishing or holding his spot — he doesn’t get knocked off his spot like he did maybe in his early years — and then also defensively in his ability to play anyone from the point guard to the center.
“A lot of times in this day and age, you’re not getting posted by centers, so you can be a little bit more creative defensively, but you still have to block them out and you still have to engage physically down in the paint, and he does a great job of that.”
That physicality has helped Tatum average 8.7 rebounds per game this season, his fourth consecutive season averaging at least eight rebounds per game after he averaged 5.0 boards per game as a rookie. Stevens also is impressed by how Tatum’s court vision has evolved.
“The experience that you go through being double-teamed, seeing different coverages — you get to the point where you’re 27 years old and you’ve pretty much seen it all,” Stevens said.
“You can see that he plays the…
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Publish date : 2025-04-04 11:38:00
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