Film Breakdown: How Jaylen Brown Can Become Invaluable To Sixers Offense

Film breakdown: How Jaylen Brown can become invaluable to Sixers offense originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jaylen Brown is off to a hot start as a Sixer. 

He’s led the team in scoring in its first two preseason games, notching 40 points across his 41 minutes on the court. The former Celtic has shot 59.1 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three-point range and 83.3 percent at the foul line. 

Brown has showcased the value he could bring to the Sixers and to Tyrese Maxey in particular this season.

Like he was for the Celtics in 2025-26, Brown was the go-to guy in the preseason opener while Maxey, LeBron James and Joel Embiid were inactive. All of his 22 points came in the first half as he consistently initiated the offense, repeatedly attacking in isolation and off ball screens.

The second game was a slightly different story as all five of the team’s projected starters suited up for the first time. Brown capitalized on great ball movement by James and Embiid with a dunk early in the first quarter. But he only took one more shot in the first stanza and didn’t score again until the 3:54 mark in the second. 

Each of his remaining three baskets came with Maxey off the floor, perhaps giving Sixers fans a glimpse of what splitting the two scorers’ minutes could look like. 

Maxey was a workhorse for the Sixers last season. His 38 minutes per game led the league. With Embiid playing 38 regular season games and Paul George available for just 37, Nick Nurse relied heavily on Maxey to create offense. VJ Edgecombe pitched in here and there. But 2026-27 should be a different story. 

With the potential for Embiid (who hasn’t played 40 or more games in a regular season since 2022-23) and James (who will turn 42 years old in December) to miss time, Brown’s presence can provide some meaningful relief for Maxey, especially given how Nurse wants the offense to run.

Under Nurse, the Sixers have been matchup hunters, subscribers to the weakest link theory. They spammed isolation ball in 2025-26, taking the second-most shots per game on isolation possessions in the NBA (9.3). On that high volume, the team was middle of the pack in terms of efficiency, scoring 0.92 points per possession in isolation, good for 15th in the NBA. 

Maxey took more than double the shots off isolated looks than any other Sixer. While Embiid (1.01 PPP) and George (1.03) were both efficient on isolation possessions, their lack of availability often left Maxey alone searching for mismatches.

Barring an irregular decrease in availability, Brown should be the answer to playing Maxey less and allowing him to take possessions off.

As the guy on the Celtics offense last season, Brown scored the third most isolation points in the league. And it wasn’t just a matter of volume. He generated 1.01 points per isolation possession, good for the 77th percentile. 

That’s been on display in the preseason. Right out of the gate against the Knicks, he attacked OG Anunoby – a two-time All-Defensive Second Team selection – off the dribble and hit a tough fadeaway jumper on the baseline. 

Jaylen Brown scores tough jumper on iso vs. OG Anunoby. https://t.co/aFufwWqXPk

— Zach Carey Clips (@ZachCareyClips) October 9, 2026

Brown’s success scoring in the mid-range is part of what makes him a tough individual cover. Basketball’s reliance on the mid-range shot has dwindled over time. But Brown made a living there last season, shooting 45.9% on 6.4 shots per game between 10 and 19 feet.

Part of what makes Brown so good at creating positive matchups to attack in isolation is how effective he is using ball screens. That’s another element of Brown’s game that should contribute to taking some of the onus off Maxey as the Sixers’ primary perimeter scorer.

The Sixers were middle of the road in both how often they used ball screens (19th) and how effective they were in those scenarios (11th in efficiency). 

Of the team’s 16.1 possessions per game that used a ball screen, Maxey was the ball handler for 7.5 of them (46.7%). He generated 0.92 points per possession off a ball screen, which was in the 66th percentile in the NBA. But the Sixers did not have enough tenable options to pilot the offense off a ball screen. 

Brown, again, is a reliable solution to that problem. He produced a similar efficiency to Maxey – 0.93 points per possession, good for the 70th percentile – on 6.4 such looks per game in 2025-26. 

Against the Knicks in the first preseason game, he used an Ariel Hukporti screen and a slow dribble to get Anunoby on his back before exploiting Karl-Anthony Towns’ drop coverage and exploding through the open lane towards the basket. 

Jaylen Brown exploits Knicks’ drop coverage by driving and putting back his own miss. https://t.co/pxgI5AdmBs

— Zach Carey Clips (@ZachCareyClips) October 9, 2026

Brown’s effectiveness at coming off a ball screen, touching the paint and then making plays can contribute to opponents opting to switch ball screens. That’s how he becomes a nightmare for defenses to handle – and where he should thrive in Nurse’s offense. At 6-foot-6, 223 pounds, he can be a matchup problem for players both bigger and smaller than him. 

He already has been as a Sixer. An Edgecombe screen forced the Nets to switch the 6-foot-4, 175-pound Keon Ellis onto Brown. Even with a help defender collapsing on him, he got to the basket and scored through contact.

Jaylen Brown scores a driving floater after forcing a switch via a VJ Edgecombe screen. https://t.co/Y6serlx6Gc

— Zach Carey Clips (@ZachCareyClips) October 9, 2026

That’s how No. 7 tends to abuse switches onto guards: attacking the paint by dribbling into the post and overpowering them.

When he earns switches against bigs, he tends to rely on his twitchiness to get a jumper off, like he did on this fadeaway midrange look over Noah Clowney’s outstretched arm. 

Jaylen Brown hits fadeaway jumper after Nets switch matchup between Brown and VJ Edgecombe. https://t.co/tdo5G6D5nA

— Zach Carey Clips (@ZachCareyClips) October 9, 2026

Being the ball handler in a pick-and-roll isn’t the only way for Brown and the Sixers to create mismatches. He set a ball screen for Labaron Philon Jr. that Brooklyn switched between the 6-foot-8 Egor Demin and the 6-foot-8 Chaney Johnson. 

Denim, a big guard, tried to get into Brown’s grill to throw him off. But this is where the former Finals MVP’s handle came into play. He absorbed the contact from Denim, ripped the ball across his chest, took a dribble between his legs and another back to his left hand before using his gather step to create enough separation for a silky 11-foot floater.

Jaylen Brown hits floater after creating a switch as the screener. https://t.co/IhNBNzd2QY

— Zach Carey Clips (@ZachCareyClips) October 9, 2026

Brown’s unique combination of controlled strength and lithe explosiveness makes him the type of universal matchup beater that tends to thrive in a Nurse offense – and alleviate responsibility for the guys who’ve been burdened by it. He’s done just that through two games in a Sixers uniform.