Jaylen Brown named to Summer League second team

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BOSTON – Jaylen Brown has made no secret about wanting to eventually develop into one of the top players in the NBA.

But before that can happen, he has to at least set himself apart from the other highly regarded players in his draft class.

The 6-foot-7 rookie took a significant step in doing just that following a strong showing this summer which concluded with him being named to the Samsung All-NBA Summer League second team.

Brown, the third overall selection in last month’s NBA draft, was just one of three lottery (top-14) picks to be named to the first or second team with Ben Simmons of Philadelphia (the No. 1 overall pick) and Milwaukee’s Thon Maker (the 10th overall pick) being named to the first and second teams, respectively.

Between summer league play in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Brown appeared in six games while averaging 16.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

He will certainly look to improve upon his shooting from the field (30.7 percent) and on 3s (27.2 percent), but Celtics fans as well as Brown had to be encouraged by his ability to get to the free throw line so frequently.

In the six games, Brown averaged 10.2 free throw attempts per game.

Of course you won’t expect him to average that many during the regular season, especially when you consider only two players – Houston’s James Harden and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins – averaged more than 10 free throw attempts per game last season.

Still, it bodes well for the Celtics if the rookie is already showing signs of getting to the free throw line at a relatively high rate.

And for Brown, it only strengthens the likelihood of him someday being among the best in the NBA.

“I always have a point to prove where I’m from; I have a chip on my shoulder at all times,” Brown said during his introductory press conference which was live streamed on CSNNE.com. “Whether I’m the (number) one pick or whatever, it’s always something to prove. It’s not about the position in the draft. I want to be a top-5 player in the league one day. I’ve said that before and I stick to it.”

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