BOSTON – The Celtics brought Marcus Smart in for a second workout two years ago because he was the guy they liked, but they wanted a second look just to be sure.
Could Jaylen Brown be Smart 2.0?
Brown has reportedly lined up a second workout with the Celtics.
In a tweet sent from Darren Wolfson of KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, it reads, “Told it’s Boston tomorrow where Jaylen Brown has been summoned.”
Austin Ainge, Boston’s director of player personnel, did not speak specifically about any particular player coming back to Boston for a second workout.
But he acknowledged that when they do bring players back for a second look, there’s a variety of reasons behind those decisions.
“Marcus, it was more like he was the guy we kind of wanted to take [with the No. 6 pick],” Ainge said. “And we all liked him a lot. And he was horrible in his workout. We went back and watched film and said, ‘Let’s give him another chance.’”
Ainge added, “We’ve done call-backs in years past where we didn’t end up taking the guy. There have been call-backs where the guy was banged up or tired. And so we said, ‘alright, let’s look at you again.’ Sometimes it’s as much as, we’ve found some things out in a background check and we wanted to talk to him abou8t it or our doctors want to take another look. All these things are reasons to have a guy come back.”
That said, there are far more positive factors behind a player being asked – and agreeing – to work out for a team a second time.
When you look back at last year’s draft, the Celtics wound up selecting four players. Of those four, at least two (Terry Rozier and Jordan Mickey) worked out for the Celtics twice.
And while there are those Celtics fans who are much more excited about the possibility of drafting a shooter such as Jamal Murray of Kentucky or Buddy Hield of Oklahoma, selecting the 6-foot-7 Brown would address the lack of depth Boston has at the wing position which was exposed in their first round series loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Jae Crowder had a lingering high ankle sprain injury that limited his play throughout the series. And on Boston’s roster, they did not have anyone else at the wing position would could play "up" and defend power forwards as well as small forwards.
Brown, who possesses a wing span of about 7 feet, would give the Celtics another body to throw out there with that kind of defensive versatility. And while his jump shot needs work, Brown has shown the ability to find success attacking the rim which is yet another quality that the Celtics have little of on its current roster.
No matter who the Celtics take with the No. 3 pick, they are going to have some sort of shortcoming. But at least with Brown, he addresses a need that the Celtics already know exists.