Jaylen Brown done for the season; here's the case for starting Aaron Nesmith

The Boston Celtics announced Monday that Jaylen Brown will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his left wrist (a left scapholunate ligament tear, to be specific). It's the same injury that Romeo Langford suffered in his right wrist.

It took Langford about five months to come back from that (and then he immediately entered COVID protocols) but he was also hampered by that being in his shooting wrist. It's entirely possible that there was added recovery time as he tried to get his shot down, which requires a lot of wrist movement, and that Brown's injury being in his off hand could change the timeline a little.

Regardless, people heal at different rates, so we'll have to wait and see. Five months would put Brown back in October, which would be training camp, so it's unlikely that this will keep him out for much, if any, of next season. It will, however, impact his offseason significantly.

On the plus side, it's a wrist injury and so that won't keep him from running or doing any sort of cardio drills. On the down side, it will keep him from lifting weights or doing any sort of upper body work. It will also limit what kind of ball-handling drills he can do. He'll still be able to dribble and shoot with his right hand, but obviously he won't be able to incorporate his left hand in much.

It's a rough blow to him developmentally, though he did a great job stepping up and adding to his game with limited offseason time after the bubble. He's taken incredible strides over the years to become an All-Star, so it's not out of the question to think that he'll find a way to persevere here as well.

This is also a rough blow during an especially rough season for Boston. They're already fading away in the playoff chase; this just Marcus Smarts them in the Jusuf Nurkic. Knowing that they're not getting an All-Star back adds more urgency to these next four games. If Boston is going to make any run to the fifth seed, they need to run the table, an already improbable feat that now edges closer to impossible.

There is a natural inclination to just slide Evan Fournier into the starting role as we've seen, but I think there's a better idea. Considering his rapid rise over the past six games, it's time to throw Aaron Nesmith into the starting lineup.

This isn't just some overreaction to a few good games. This is an attempt to maximize the talent on the roster, and take advantage of the advancements in Nesmith's game.

His last six games represent a major step forward from earlier this season. Generally speaking, he's playing more confidently and his feel for the game, especially when it comes to his shooting, is shining through.  The results have been a spectacular 64.3% shooting from the field and 57.9% from 3.

Those are obviously unsustainable numbers, but they do show not only a cleaner, more confident shooting stroke, but a greater understanding of driving and taking other shots. He's shooting 69.5% on 2-pointers, and his shot chart shows he's doing one of two things: getting to the paint, or taking 3's.



And this is part of why I think he should start. The Celtics need a guy in the lineup to make the right plays. They need a reliable guy who can play off the guys who take up a lot of attention without being too high-usage. Jayson Tatum is obviously going to be the focal point of the offense, and when he gives it up, having guys on the floor who can make the next right play is important.

Kemba Walker will resume his role as a primary scorer, which he's been excelling at recently. His field goal percentage has gone up every month this season, and up by at least five points in each of the past few months. He has only played in three games this month, but he's hitting half his shots and averaging nearly 28 points per game.

So Tatum and Walker can handle the bulk of the scoring. Nesmith can capitalize on that attention to not only hit shots, but take advantage of overzealous defenders who scramble after overreactions.


This is a fairly new element to Nesmith's game. The recognition to fake, drive, and dish is very high-level. It's been remarkable to see this kind of progression from him, and without it, I wouldn't even dream of putting him in this position. But his ability to recognize things like this makes him a good complement to the starting unit because teams will be very willing to leave the rookie and see if he can make them pay. If he continues this level of play, he will do just that.

He also gives the starting unit a giant does of what it needs the most: energy. Nesmith is a double espresso laced with a Five Hour Energy shot mixed into a Surge cola. He's Bart and Millhouse drinking an all-syrup super squishee. If anyone can be impervious to the Medusa stare of lazy Celtics starts, it's Nesmith. The Celtics need a whole lot more of this in their lives:



Nesmith is a wrecking ball who just achieved situational awareness. The Celtics need to feed off his energy more to keep them engaged in the game. His defense has also made big enough strides where starting him makes sense.

And perhaps what this most importantly does is give Boston a chance to keep two of Tatum, Walker, and Evan Fournier on the floor at all times. With Fournier coming off the bench, it allows for a better staggering of players while giving him more run as a main offensive threat instead of a third or fourth option.

Much has been made recently about Fournier and Walker's quick chemistry, and any smart player working off of Tatum can see his production take a step forward.

Bringing a player like Fournier off the bench would be a huge luxury for the Celtics. With Nesmith's ability to simply be solid, make shots, and play some high-energy defense, Fournier can excel off the bench without sacrificing shots. As the new guy in town who was already preparing to play a bench role, asking him to do this right now should be very easy.

He won't be sacrificing any minutes or touches. In fact, he'll probably get more shots this way, and he'll probably be in the closing lineup regardless. It really just amounts to a minor redistribution of his minutes in the first and third quarters.

Losing Brown is a terrible blow, but starting Nesmith in his place could be a way for Boston to manage this difficult stretch.