Brown, for his part, did not wait for Ainge and Stevens to present their plan.

Brown showed flashes of brilliance this year, and this will be an important offseason for him. But he is just two years removed from high school, and including the playoffs, he played in 95 games this season. So rest and recovery will be important, too.

As the Celtics season neared its end, coach Brad Stevens and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge discussed how rookie forward Jaylen Brown should approach the upcoming summer.

“Jaylen came right into my office and said, ‘I’m playing this summer,’ ” Ainge said. “And I said, ‘OK, tell me what’s on your mind.’ And he pretty much just said, ‘Because I don’t want anybody to even think that I’m not ready right now. I’m ready to play and I’m ready to win.’


“He emphasized the point of now. He doesn’t want us thinking he’s two or three years away. He wants to be included in our plans this very minute. Of course he is, but it just tells you a little bit about Jaylen. He wants to be great.”

Ainge said he always intended for the 20-year-old Brown to be on the team’s summer league roster. In recent years, the Celtics have limited the playing time of second-year first-round picks Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart.

It is likely that Brown will follow a similar course. But his desire to be a part of every game in every situation — whether it be guarding LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals or guarding an undrafted rookie in a summer league game in Salt Lake City — resonates with the Celtics.

“I just love that mentality,” Ainge said.

Brown, the third overall pick of last year’s draft, was in an unusual situation this season. Most often, such high picks join struggling teams. But in this case, the Celtics were a very good team that had the good fortune of getting the third pick as part of their 2013 trade that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets.


Brown would not open the year as a starter, or even as a reserve receiving substantial playing time. Instead, he would learn by watching and then gain opportunities by working. He said he picked up good habits, such as how to have an impact on winning and how to be a good teammate.

“A lot of good players, they don’t learn it that early,” Brown said. “They figure it out three, four, five years in. So I’m happy I learned it now and I’m continuing to learn it now.”

Ainge said it can be beneficial for top rookies to be thrown into high-minute, high-usage roles that require them to learn quickly. But he said there is also great value in coming through a rookie season as Brown did, when a team has so many other options that nothing is promised.

“If you’re not playing hard, you’re not playing,” Ainge said, “and when you make mistakes, you come out of the game and you’ve got to know what you’re supposed to be doing, and you’re held to the same standards as veteran players.”

“I had to fight for everything I got,” Brown said. “I had to earn every minute, earn every possession, and I liked it like that.”


Ainge was particularly impressed by how Brown grew as the season progressed. He did not hit a rookie wall; he seemed to get stronger.

Prior to the All-Star break, the forward averaged 15.5 minutes, 5.7 points, and 2.6 rebounds per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 30.4 percent on 3-pointers. After the break, he played 20.8 minutes per game and averaged 8.6 points and 3.4 rebounds while improving his shooting to 49.4 percent overall and 37.9 on 3-pointers.

Brown had a limited role in the first two rounds of the playoffs before being used more prominently in the conference finals against the Cavaliers, when he was one of Boston’s few bright spots.

The rookie made 17 of 29 shots (58.6 percent) and often found himself guarding James on one of basketball’s biggest stages. When the two were matched up at TD Garden, there was a buzz in the crowd. The fans understood the significance of what Brown could someday mean to this franchise.

“I don’t think people expected me to contribute as much as I did, and now getting to the Eastern Conference finals and losing, it builds a hunger,” Brown said. “I have a bad taste in my mouth, so I’ve got to put in work in the offseason and come back even stronger.”

Among rookies who played in at least 30 games this year, Brown finished only 15th in the NBA in scoring. But just two of the players in front of him reached the playoffs, and both were eliminated in the first round.


Brown is confident that he will continue to ascend while taking on a more prominent role on this team that fell just one step short of the Finals.

“I think with his talent and his work ethic, he’s really going to be great, man,” Celtics forward Gerald Green said. “I’ve been around the league a long time, around a lot of rookies, and he’s really a stud.”

“Next year everything is going to become much, much easier for him,” forward Al Horford added. “You guys are going to see a much better Jaylen Brown.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.