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No

Let's see where the Celtics finish by the end of the season but at best, he'll be top 5 imo. Jokic/Embiid/Giannis are too far ahead.

Not this year but damn those numbers are scary. Seems like he's in the process of making the jump to legitimate superstar status.

Swish1906 wrote:No

He won’t win it… too short of a sample size, but even still, he’s top 10… maybe top 6?

Jokic
Embiid
KD
Curry
…

After those 4, who else stands out more than Tatum?

DusterBuster wrote:

Swish1906 wrote:No

He won’t win it… too short of a sample size, but even still, he’s top 10… maybe top 6?

Jokic
Embiid
KD
Curry
…

After those 4, who else stands out more than Tatum?

do i really need to point out the big, freak, greek omission?

I can see putting him in the top 10 in this moment considering what crazy transformation the Cs took like mid-season and as you've highlighted putting up huge numbers.

But if the Cs move into a top 2-3 seed before year end he could put himself in discussion for top 5 (competing with Ja, DeRozan, Luka) officially put the league on notice and prime himself to truly compete for the award next year when he's able to do it for a full season.

Joker
Embiid
Giannis

Luka
Tatum

KD (too many missed games)

His bad month at the start of the year is not the impression you want to leave with voters.with that said I think Ja, Derozen, and Tatum are 4-6 in voting

I remember a fan on our boards earlier this season wanted to trade him to the rockets for Jalen green, picks, and filler.

Now I don't see him much posting. Maybe Tatum's mvp like numbers shut the guy up.

He doesn't have a narrative that puts him in the conversation but he's definitely been overlooked. Him and Booker actually.

I remember the Rudy Gay comparison clearly.

Honestly I think he might be top 5. His impact metrics this year are insane.

Not to win it, but I think he should finish 4th or 5th. The three ball has returned finally, but he’s averaged 28/8/5 on a 61% TS since December 1st.

His impact is insane, they have a net rating of +11.1 when he plays, and a -3.6 when he sits. The next lowest regular with OFF net rating is Smart at +3.5. And it’s not just him playing with a stacked starting lineup, they have a +20 net rating when he plays without any other starter, in around 200 minutes.

He’s an unreal two way player, and has become a very good passer.

The raw numbers have been nice lately, but the overall Impact all year has been crazy good. Celtics are a plus with everyone off the court EXCEPT Tatum; after tonignt’s game, he’s in crazy territory:

+11.1 on court per 100 possessions
Celtics -3.6 per 100 possessions with Tatum off court
+14.7 on-off.

Very few players from 1997 to 2022 have been +11 or greater on court and +15 or greater on-off.

Tatum is having a great, great season.

He started off too slow. His best case is 1st Team All-NBA but even that is a stretch. I don't think it's a stretch however to say he's been playing at an MVP level the last couple months. His defensive impact is pretty underrated

Maybe top 10. But will anyone really talk about those after the Greek Freak, Jokic, and maybe Embiid tier?

He's been having a great 2022 though for sure. But to be honest to displace a Jokic or Greek Freak he'd have to do what he's done post allstar break for the entire year just because bigs are always going to be favored defensively. Even then the rebounding numbers are a wide gulf. But yeah if he averaged his post allstar numbers of 32ppg, 7.5rpg, 5aspg on 50% fg and 42% from 3 he'd start entering the conversation.

Tatum scores a shed load of points, jheez

MVP is a lost cause, the Celtics org and fans should be campaigning for 1st team All NBA. Derozan is turning back to Defrozen and the Bulls are faltering. The Celtics and Bulls are playing each other soon and that could determine the final forward spot on the 1st team.

Of course this is all assuming that voters won’t be colluding to include Jokic and Embiid on the first team, which they shouldn’t anyway.

He'll probably finish top five