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Slow Your Rolls...

No doubt that he can ball, but there's a little too much hype surrounding Jayson Tatum.

By Olamide OlatunbosunPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Tatum was one vote shy of being a unanimous All-Rookie First Team selection and helped the Boston Celtics push the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the doldrums of summer and the NBA offseason, I find myself on YouTube a lot, often watching basketball or NBA 2K videos. One of my favourite shows to watch is First Take, as I enjoy hearing Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman banter and give their opinions on a myriad of NBA topics. Typically, I agree with at least one of them on any given matter. But a few days ago, I found myself disagreeing with both analysts, and it is actually a topic I have been giving a great deal of thought to the past little while.

Bleacher Report featured Celtics now-sophmore Jayson Tatum on their list of the NBA's most overhyped players looking to this upcoming season. Both Smith and Kellerman were adamant that Tatum shouldn't be on this list, but I don't follow their logic. I know he's talented, but I don't think he's totally deserving of all the praise he has gotten. I felt a similar way when Tatum's NBA 2K19 rating was released. He was given a rating of 87, equating him with fellow sophomores Ben Simmons (who was the 2018 Rookie of the Year) and Donovan Mitchell and above NBA stars Kemba Walker (86), Blake Griffin (86) and Clint Capela (84). Much of that had to do with the Celtics' deep run in the 2018 Playoffs, being one game shy of making the NBA Finals despite their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward being out with injuries. Tatum had a solid rookie year, averaging 13.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.6 APG while making the All-Rookie First Team; he improved his play in the postseason averaging 18.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.7 APG. In a rookie class with great talent, Tatum is certainly at up there and the future of the Boston Celtics looks very bright.

With LeBron James leaving the Eastern Conference for the Los Angeles Lakers, and Irving and Hayward poised to return, it seems like the East is the Celtics' to run for the foreseeable future. And Tatum may just be the franchise player during that run. But he may simply not have that opportunity—at least not right away—with such a stacked roster around him. Kyrie is the clear leader of this Celtics team and will take back many of the shots that Tatum got this postseason. Likewise, Gordon Hayward will take not just shots away from the youngster, but the ball in general, as he is adept handling the rock. And that's not even to mention Jaylen Brown further improving going into his third year, Al Horford who is a gifted passing big man, and Terry Rozier coming off and outstanding playoff run. Simply put, Tatum won't have the ball nearly as much this upcoming season, barring the Celtics remain healthy.

Kyrie Irving & Gordon Hayward

With the return of Hayward and Irving, don't expect Tatum to put up numbers like he did last year.

As mentioned earlier, Tatum has the same 2K rating as Simmons and Mitchell, though if I had to rank them, it'd be Simmons, Mitchell, Tatum. I predicted that Jayson would be below both of those players. Seeing as they're all an 87, it's clear the folks at 2K (and basketball fans worldwide) read too deeply into the Celtics playoff run. All three rookies made it to at least the second round, but since Tatum made it the furthest (and his team stopped Simmons' Philadelphia 76ers in the process—get it, process, hehe) he got a rating boost. But even if you look at their playoff numbers, it's not totally evident that Tatum is on the level of his draft classmates.

Tatum: 18.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, 47.1% FG, 32.4% 3FG, 84.5% FT

Simmons: 16.3 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 7.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, 48.8% FG, 0.0% 3FG, 70.7% FT

Mitchell: 24.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.5 SPG, 42.0% FG, 31.3% 3FG, 90.7% FT

Just looking at the numbers, there's only one category where Tatum was the best—three-point shooting—and that's way down from 43.4% in the regular season. I'd argue Mitchell was the best rookie in the playoffs, knowing the burden he shouldered for the Utah Jazz. And even though Simmons was exposed by the Celtics for his utter lack of a jump-shot, he still beat Tatum in four of the seven stats presented while again, shouldering a larger load.

I'm not here to say that Jayson Tatum can't hoop because as Stephen A. Smith would say, "He's a baaaaaaaaaaad man!" But he has the luxury on being on better teams than Simmons and Mitchell. While I expect Tatum to be the best player on the Celtics in a few years, he has to wait his turn behind Kyrie, Hayward, and maybe even Brown and Horford. Many have Jayson pegged to make the All-Star team in the East, but with that much talent on his team, not to mention the rest of the conference (which is a lot better than many fans give it credit for) I heavily doubt it. But hey, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

Predicted Stats: 15.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 46.1% FG, 37.8% 3FG, 83.4% FT

I've you read the whole thing, thank you so much; I really appreciate it. Let me know what 2017 rookie I should write about next, or any other comments you have for me via social media.

Snapchat: midster007

Facebook: Olamide Olatunbosun

Thanks again, and see ya next time.

basketball
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About the Creator

Olamide Olatunbosun

Huge NBA (more importantly LeBron) fan, love writing about things happening around the league.

Instagram: @mdaywiththetrey

Facebook: Olamide Olatunbosun

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