Jaylen Brown as a 'Seventh-Best Player?' Yeah, Nobody in the League Is Ready For That Ridiculous Take

Okay, seriously, what is happening in the NBA right now? The whole Jaylen Brown trade saga has been a total mind-bender, but one "evaluation" just dropped that makes me want to throw my coffee at the wall. We're talking about a guy coming off his best season, who was a Finals MVP two years ago, and some analytics guru out there thinks he's a bench warmer? I’m telling you, Emerald City, this is next-level wild.

What Even Is His Value?!

First off, how do you even get here? Boston built around Brown, adding pieces on the margins, and now they're reportedly fielding every single trade call for him. It's confusing, man. You’ve got Brad Stevens out there asking for the moon, treating Brown like he’s prime LeBron James on the trade block. And honestly, for a guy who just had his best pro season and snagged a Finals MVP trophy not long ago, you can see why Boston would ask for a lot. But then, the reports start filtering in: other teams aren't nearly as high on him. Except maybe Portland, who seems super interested. It feels like classic negotiation tactics, right? Teams leak stuff to the media to drive down his value, while Boston pumps him up. You figure eventually everyone meets somewhere in the middle. We've seen this song and dance before. But then, this happened.

The "Analytics" That Make No Sense

ESPN’s Bobby Marks, a guy who used to be the Nets assistant GM, was on SiriusXM and dropped an absolute bombshell.

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He was talking about how some folks go "deeper than what the eye test says," diving into analytics that apparently show Jaylen Brown isn't all that. And then he quotes an "analytics guy" saying, and I quote, "we view him as like a seventh-best player on a team." Marks himself said, "I was like holy crap." Holy crap is right! Are you kidding me? A seventh-best player? That means he’s the second guy off the bench, at best. We can argue all day if Brown is a number one or two option. I’d even listen to a discussion about him being a third option if you want to stretch it. But to say he's a seventh-best player on any NBA squad? That’s not just a bad take, that’s an assessment that makes you wonder if that person should even be evaluating talent. The only way Brown is a seventh-best player is if we're talking All-NBA, and even then, he was voted sixth-best. This whole thing makes me think some teams are doomed to never win with talent evaluators like that. Brown himself has "railed against analytics," and with stuff like this, you can totally see why. This isn’t just about Jaylen Brown anymore, it’s about how some people are looking at talent in this league. If analytics are telling you a Finals MVP and a guy coming off his career-best season is a bench player, then maybe, just maybe, you need to re-evaluate the analytics! The league is always wild, but this takes the cake. What are we even doing here? Let's hope common sense prevails for whatever team ends up with this guy, because he's a certified stud, no matter what some spreadsheet says.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.