LAS VEGAS – Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum are putting in the work now to capitalize on their greater opportunity later.
Each of those players appear to be in line for more significant roles next season after the departures of Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Marcus Morris. Brown, Hayward and Tatum, along with Kemba Walker, will be the centerpieces of Boston’s offense.
Word out of the Auerbach Center all summer long has been that Brown, Hayward and Tatum have been giving extreme effort this offseason to better their individual games. Danny Ainge has made that be known publicly, and Brad Stevens echoed such observations Tuesday evening in Las Vegas.
Stevens, who spoke to the media for nearly 15 minutes ahead of Boston’s Summer League game against the Nuggets, commented on the work ethic of each of those three players.
First, with regard to Brown and Tatum, Stevens said that they have “both been in Boston quite a bit, and they’ve both been working when they’re not (in Boston).”
The coach then went into a bit more detail regarding Hayward’s offseason, which has included daily trips to the Auerbach Center during the work week.
“He’s been in Boston almost the whole time,” Stevens said of Hayward this offseason. “He works during the week in Boston, and then he’ll go on some weekend trips.
“He started a little bit earlier than he does normally, and he’s been going early in the mornings,” the coach continued. “You better be an early riser to catch him walking out the door, let alone in it. He gets up there and gets his work done.”
These are all encouraging signs for a Celtics team that will undoubtedly need Brown, Tatum and Hayward to play at a higher level next season than they did last season. That being said, Stevens won’t be asking any of them, especially the young guys, to try to do anything on the court that falls outside of their strengths.
“We don’t need Jayson or Jaylen to put that extra burden on themselves,” Stevens said. “We just need them to get better in what they do well.”
That’s a message Stevens has preached to his players since joining the Celtics six years ago, and it will continue to be relayed to next season’s team – especially to these three players.
“We just need people to be the best versions of themselves, and then that stuff all takes care of itself,” he said. “We have a lot of different players on this team that are capable of adding value in all of those regards.”
Brown, Hayward and Tatum are three players who are at the front of that line heading into next season.
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