Earlier this year, Boston Celtics assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry called Jaylen Brown an “energy guy” for the team off the bench.

At the time, it felt like a strange comment – Brown was the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, and he was less than a year removed from a breakout performance in the postseason. He had already collected poster dunks on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, and had shown flashes of future star potential. “Energy guy” does not generally imply “future star.”

But Brown – in a theme that continued throughout the season – didn’t chafe at the description of himself when asked about it.

“That’s kind of what this team needs,” Brown told MassLive. “And things change. This team needs different stuff now than it did in the beginning of the year. In the playoffs, it’s going to need different stuff again. Things change. People keep with the same narrative, but things change. The narrative at the end of the season isn’t the narrative now.”

Four months later, things changed drastically. On Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers completed a blockbuster trade for New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis – the object of Boston’s desire for years. With Davis off the table, the Celtics have reportedly all but abandoned their fading hopes of retaining Kyrie Irving, despite his preseason commitment (which wasn’t really a commitment) to re-sign with the team. The Celtics reportedly never put Jayson Tatum on the table (unless they did?), and we don’t know whether or not Brown was made available. As soon as Davis made it clear he would sign with the Lakers in free agency, the Celtics understandably couldn’t stomach giving up their young wings for a player who would have been a major flight risk.

So now, essentially one calendar year after everyone went ice cold in Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics find themselves back where they started. Sure, there are differences –Al Horford may or may not renegotiate his deal, Gordon Hayward should be better this year, and changes might happen around the periphery – but on June 30, when free agency gets underway, Boston will likely return to a young core of Tatum, Brown and Marcus Smart.

That core has earned its opportunity. They helped lead the Celtics to within a game of the NBA finals when Tatum and Brown were two years younger, notably further than this year’s squad went. And while circumstances for both teams make a major difference – the 2017-18 team faced a much weaker Milwaukee Bucks squad than the 2018-19 team – the remaining pieces built a reputation as one of the most promising young cores in the league before Irving returned.

In their reduced roles this season, Tatum and Brown never made noise about how unfair it felt to have last year’s Eastern Conference finalists giving up shots and accolades, which was one of the reasons the narrative about the team’s “young guys” never felt like it made much sense. The only time either player spoke out was when Brown called out Irving for his moodiness toward the youth in January.

But while Brown and Tatum never made public noise, they may privately feel better knowing they have something this upcoming season that every NBA player covets: Freedom. A green light. Comfort in their roles knowing they will be asked to perform on a nightly basis.

Statistically, both players performed a bit below expectations last year. After averaging 20 points per game in the postseason as a rookie, Tatum put up 15.7 points and 6 rebounds per game in his sophomore season, although the Celtics were +7.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass – a 90th percentile total. As a member of the second unit, Brown’s production dropped even further – from 18.5 points per game in the postseason to 13 points and four rebounds, and the Celtics were 6.8 points per 100 possessions worse when he was on the floor (Boston’s bench units struggled immensely).

Giving the reins to Tatum and Brown wouldn’t be about last year however, but rather a bet on their deep playoff run. Throughout last season, members of the organization acknowledged that both players were being asked to take a step back, and as the season progressed and the Celtics’ status as contenders seemed more and more tenuous, that pill had to have been increasingly difficult to swallow. But, again, if Tatum and Brown were angry, we never heard about it.

That’s not to say Boston will entrust its entire future to Tatum and Brown. Danny Ainge has never been afraid of aggressive moves if they present themselves, and discounting Hayward and Horford would be foolish. Brown in particular is on a bit of a timeline – he is eligible for an extension this offseason, and if the Celtics don’t re-up with him, he will hit restricted free agency in the summer. This year will be a test, in addition to an opportunity.

But the good news for Brown and Tatum: They will seemingly have the organization’s full attention. No more Will-They-Won’t-They with Anthony Davis. No more focus on keeping Kyrie Irving happy at all costs. The Celtics’ future is tied to a 22-year-old and a 21-year-old who have both proven themselves capable of winning games, but who both still have a ton of room to improve. That won’t make the Celtics favorites to come out of the East, but it will certainly make them compelling.

“Obviously we had aspirations of winning a championship,” Tatum said after the Celtics lost Game 5 to the Milwaukee Bucks, sending them into this confusing quagmire of an offseason. “But. Next year.”

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