What exactly makes Tatum more talked about/ranked higher than Pascal Siakim?

[Karate Diop]

Tatum is 20 and Siakam is 24.

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

[HotelVitale]

The direct answer is that Tatum had his profile breakout during a playoff run in which his team pulled off 2 upsets and almost had one of the most improbable Finals runs ever. That was more about the Celtics team defense and their execution on offense, but Tatum was the best player in many of the key quarters of those games so he got his profile upped quite a bit. We saw him showing out when it mattered and when teams could plan against him, and we haven't seen that from Siakim yet (but maybe will this PO).

[Patsfan1081]

They're at different stages in their developement, Siakam is 25 years old and not really a "prospect" at this point. You also can't just dismiss the postseason play of guys like Tatum and Mitchell as rookies.

[clyde21]

Siakam started playing basketball at 17.

Tatum's been playing since he was a little kid.

...ok?

so you're saying the ages at which they started playing is a non-factor?

...ok?

im not saying anything. im just giving you their age.

[Joker]

They're at different stages in their developement, Siakam is 25 years old and not really a "prospect" at this point. You also can't just dismiss the postseason play of guys like Tatum and Mitchell as rookies.

Then why is Pascal improving more than Tatum is? Are you not ignoring the fact that Pascal has far less basketball experience than Tatum does?

[mademan]

Tatum is 20 and Siakam is 24.

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

Is it really? Tatum is incrementally improved from last season; who knows how much better he gets. It's not like he's some freak athlete looking to improve on some skills; he's already a very polished player. My opinion is that Siakim is significantly better today and im not comfortable betting on Tatum to close that gap over the next 5 years, which is really that matters to me.

[Patsfan1081]

Tatum is 20 and Siakam is 24.

Siakam started playing basketball at 17.

Tatum's been playing since he was a little kid.

This is not true and stated in another post. Siakam was discovered by A Moute at 16 and had been playing basketball befor that, just not at a level similar to AAU. He's had plenty of developement all time, including multiple years in college and time in the g league.

[LoveMyRaps]

They're at different stages in their developement, Siakam is 25 years old and not really a "prospect" at this point. You also can't just dismiss the postseason play of guys like Tatum and Mitchell as rookies.

24*
And he's definitely still considered a prospect considering he only started playing basketball at the age of 17. Just like Embiid.
Both are the same age and continue to improve their game in every facet at a very fast rate.

[Joker]

Being younger implies you have less development and more room for improvement.

But Pascal actually has less development and is improving literally month by month.

[dhsilv2]

Age difference is definitely a huge factor. Just imagine Tatum in 4 years.

His game has barely changed from last year.
After working with Kobe this past summer, I thought he'd take his game to another level this season but its been a disappointment.

Good rookies rarely have a better second year. Teams are better defending them due to having scouted them already. A bit different for rookies who struggled more.

[nikster]

Tatum is 20 and Siakam is 24.

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

Is it really? Tatum is incrementally improved from last season; who knows how much better he gets. It's not like he's some freak athlete looking to improve on some skills; he's already a very polished player. My opinion is that Siakim is significantly better today and im not comfortable betting on Tatum to close that gap over the next 5 years, which is really that matters to me.

Yes. 4 years ago Pascal was playing in college. The last 2 seasons he was a role player. Now he’s an all star level player.

Not betting on Tatums development, but I wouldn’t have bet Pascal would be at this level even based off last season

[dhsilv2]

They're at different stages in their developement, Siakam is 25 years old and not really a "prospect" at this point. You also can't just dismiss the postseason play of guys like Tatum and Mitchell as rookies.

24*
And he's definitely still considered a prospect considering he only started playing basketball at the age of 17. Just like Embiid.
Both are the same age and continue to improve their game in every facet at a very fast rate.

The problem is around 26 is where players peak physically. That limits the upside...

[LoveMyRaps]

Tatum is 20 and Siakam is 24.

Siakam started playing basketball at 17.

Tatum's been playing since he was a little kid.

This is not true and stated in another post. Siakam was discovered by A Moute at 16 and had been playing basketball befor that, just not at a level similar to AAU. He's had plenty of developement all time, including multiple years in college and time in the g league.

Actually thats not true.
He played soccer not basketball.
He went to a basketball camp, hosted by Moute, for fun in 2016 (meant to say ''when he was 16) with his friends and stood out because of his length and athleticism.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/pascal-siakams-path-to-the-nba-began-with-his-father/article32831227/

Pascal studied at a Catholic seminary from the age of 11 to 18. It wasn't until he was about 15 that he began to play a little basketball

[mademan]

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

Is it really? Tatum is incrementally improved from last season; who knows how much better he gets. It's not like he's some freak athlete looking to improve on some skills; he's already a very polished player. My opinion is that Siakim is significantly better today and im not comfortable betting on Tatum to close that gap over the next 5 years, which is really that matters to me.

Yes. 4 years ago Pascal was playing in college. The last 2 seasons he was a role player. Now he’s an all star level player.

Not betting on Tatums development, but I wouldn’t have bet Pascal would be at this level even based off last season

Cause even a year ago Siakim was raw. 20 year old Tatum is as polished as many 25 year olds in the league. I'm sure he'll get better, im just not convinced he's gonna have a Siakim type jump. Not a lot of players do. It was unlikely Siakim was gonna get this jump too (which is why he was drafted so late).

A lot of people think these guys just get much better year over year. Truth is, improvement is very hard to predict. I mean 6 months ago Tatum was a budding superstar; now he's 'just' a budding star. Most people went backwards on their projection of him; who knows how he'll be in 2 years. What i know now is Siakim is significantly better, also on a rookie contract and also improving. If im a team looking to contend over the next 3/4/5 years, I take Siakim.

[Patsfan1081]

Tatum is 20 and Siakam is 24.

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

Is it really? Tatum is incrementally improved from last season; who knows how much better he gets. It's not like he's some freak athlete looking to improve on some skills; he's already a very polished player. My opinion is that Siakim is significantly better today and im not comfortable betting on Tatum to close that gap over the next 5 years, which is really that matters to me.

Significantly better? Putting that bad take aside look at all the basest wings in the league, George, Butler, Leonard, Dipo, etc.... They took their jump around 24/25, so didn't Siakam. Tatum is 20, his rebounding and assist % has improved though still the area he needs to improve the most. However whhat separates him most from the others is he doesn't get nearly as many touches, even freakin Marcus Morris is a option over him at this point. There's a difference between being polished and coming into the league with a decent shot.

[Edrees]

Age difference is definitely a huge factor. Just imagine Tatum in 4 years.

He's asking why Siakam is considered not as good today, which brings a good point up. Actually, you're kind of right, the OP asked 2 very different questions in one post.

Why is Tatum talked about more? Because just imagine him in 4 years.

Why is he "ranked" higher than Siakam now? Because that ranking is bad. Siakam is better today. Otherwise we should rank Oladipo higher than Lebron, as he will be better in 4 years than Lebron.

[Duke4life831]

I think it's pretty simple. Tatum is 4 years younger and last year Tatum as a rookie helped lead his team to game 7 of the ECF against LeBron, showed out in game 7 and ended up just 1 point behind Kareem for most points by a rookie in the playoffs.

So I think everyone saw that potential and think, what can this player look like in 4 years.

[Reeko]

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

Is it really? Tatum is incrementally improved from last season; who knows how much better he gets. It's not like he's some freak athlete looking to improve on some skills; he's already a very polished player. My opinion is that Siakim is significantly better today and im not comfortable betting on Tatum to close that gap over the next 5 years, which is really that matters to me.

Yes. 4 years ago Pascal was playing in college. The last 2 seasons he was a role player. Now he’s an all star level player.

Not betting on Tatums development, but I wouldn’t have bet Pascal would be at this level even based off last season

No one saw this coming from Pascal. Solid starter sure, but he is fast becoming a top 5 two way big man. Something that the age gap has nothing to do with is the energy with which Pascal plays with, Tatum does not and will never play with that kind of energy. Pascal raises the intensity of his teammates when he's on the floor and it's an intangible that he was born with, not something that can be learned.

[reload141]

They're at different stages in their developement, Siakam is 25 years old and not really a "prospect" at this point. You also can't just dismiss the postseason play of guys like Tatum and Mitchell as rookies.

24*
And he's definitely still considered a prospect considering he only started playing basketball at the age of 17. Just like Embiid.
Both are the same age and continue to improve their game in every facet at a very fast rate.

I think another difference is that Siakam is also a more mature and filled out body whereas Tatum just gets bumped around a lot and can't handle anywhere near as much contact as Siakam can.

[mademan]

Came here to post exactly this.

Siakam has really been impressive this year but when projecting for the future a 4 year age difference is HUGE.

Is it really? Tatum is incrementally improved from last season; who knows how much better he gets. It's not like he's some freak athlete looking to improve on some skills; he's already a very polished player. My opinion is that Siakim is significantly better today and im not comfortable betting on Tatum to close that gap over the next 5 years, which is really that matters to me.

Significantly better? Putting that bad take aside look at all the basest wings in the league, George, Butler, Leonard, Dipo, etc.... They took their jump around 24/25, so didn't Siakam. Tatum is 20, his rebounding and assist % has improved though still the area he needs to improve the most. However whhat separates him most from the others is he doesn't get nearly as many touches, even freakin Marcus Morris is a option over him at this point. There's a difference between being polished and coming into the league with a decent shot.

Lets not take it aside.

16/7/3 on 63 TS%, and a 19 PER
16/6/2 on 56 TS% and a 16 PER

Siakim is 4th amongst PF's with an RPM of 3.6 and is the 2nd best on his team
Tatum is 16th amonst SF's with an RPM of 1 and it's the 5th best on his team

Siakim is also significantly higher in advanced metrics like BPM/VORP/Win shares.

Almost every metric rates Siakim as having star impact and Tatum as having starter impact. So yes, significantly better today is the phrasing i would use.

More to your point though by your examples; all those guys, save maybe Dipo, came in extremely raw and were basically defensive role players for their first few years. No comparison to Tatum. Those guys trajectory is actually closer to Siakim than Tatum