Jayson Tatum Vs Paul George

[Bubbachuck2]

Is Tatum just Paul George with a better supporting cast? He has looked horrible for years in the post season and his shooting stats are horrible

[Cavsfansince84]

More or less I think it fits him. Tatum being able to get hot from 3 and being a solid rebounder/passer/defender isn't quite enough to get him lumped in with Luka or SGA. He's a 5 bpm sf who plays + defense which is basically what Pierce was. That's also what PG was most years except the 1 year in Okc where his bpm was 7.2. Yes I brought up Pierce even though he's not in the op.

[AEnigma]

Confused by the inclusion of “tie” when the question asks whether they are the same lol.

Tatum is a more willing scorer and a more active playmaker, on top of being more durable, so I would probably take his prime over George’s (although he has yet to have a regular season as good as 2019 George), but I have long advocated for George as the best point of comparison for Tatum.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Confused by the inclusion of “tie” when the question asks whether they are the same lol.

You beat me to it, lol

In response to the question, I'd take Tatum over George by a small margin but it's a good comparison

[DorianRo]

Its a good comparison.. Two overrated clowns that constantly lay eggs in the playoffs every year. Decent all around, great at nothing

[Bubbachuck2]

Placing tie was a mistake LOL But basically are they the same tier/player?

[TroubleS0me]

Their playstyle is very similar.

[Doctor MJ]

Is Tatum just Paul George with a better supporting cast? He has looked horrible for years in the post season and his shooting stats are horrible

I feel like you're confused about George if you think he's a player who was seen as a much lower stature than Tatum is.

George's reputation has been hurt over time because:

a) He's someone who frequently ditches his team even when this is clearly not the right move (should never have left Indiana).

b) Insists on trying to hype himself as a big time clutch scorer when he was always a guy relevant primarily for his defense.

So while I expect Tatum to go down in history as a much more accomplished player than George, it's not because Tatum's a more talented player necessarily but because George sabotaged his own career by being selfish an delusional.

And just to add: Tatum's never been in the same league as prime George on defense, it's a sizable advantage on offense that favors Tatum other than the fact that Tatum doesn't keep switching teams.

Now given your OP, you probably question whether Tatum actually is a better offensive player than George. I'm guessing you're thinking this because Tatum, like George, doesn't seem like an unstoppable iso force like Kawhi is perceived to be, but I think it's critical to keep in mind that the reason for the Celtics success has to do with a scheme that - when running properly - doesn't devolve into that.

So yeah, when the Celtics offense bogs down it's reasonable to point a finger at Tatum to some degree...but when you do so you're not focusing on what has worked for the Celtics. Could George function in the Celtics offense the way Tatum has when it's working? I think he'd struggle more but would acknowledge it's debatable...thing is:

George has chosen to go to new teams 3 times, and in each case he's chosen to go player with star contexts that it won't make sense to play him that way. Hence, to the extent George maybe could have done what Tatum does, it's kinda moot because George chose not to stay in one place and have a team built around him.

This is part of the broader aspect when talking about basketball accomplishment that is distinct from "absolute goodness". It might be reasonable to say that George is roughly the talent Tatum but in terms of "Tatum is just George but with...", an answer like "common sense", "perseverance", or "an accurate sense of his strengths and weaknesses", but in terms of supporting cast, George has gotten to play with TONS of talented teammates in his career, and he will likely be forgotten because he didn't do enough with them to be worth remembering.

He remains an absolute lock as a HOFer of course - don't let me blow his issues out of proportion - but the answer to why he's not in Tatum's tier as an NBA legend isn't that hard to fathom. Dude made some bad choices.

[NO-KG-AI]

Tatum is what Paul George sympathizers like to pretend he is. Tatum is inconsistent at times, but he’s worlds more consistently great on both ends than George.

[eminence]

Pre '09 LeBron is my preferred Tatum comparison.

Updated to the modern era (we jack more 3s now).

[Special_Puppy]

Is Tatum just Paul George with a better supporting cast? He has looked horrible for years in the post season and his shooting stats are horrible

I feel like you're confused about George if you think he's a player who was seen as a much lower stature than Tatum is.

George's reputation has been hurt over time because:

a) He's someone who frequently ditches his team even when this is clearly not the right move (should never have left Indiana).

Can you elaborate why he shouldn't have left Indiana? The team was going nowhere

[Doctor MJ]

Is Tatum just Paul George with a better supporting cast? He has looked horrible for years in the post season and his shooting stats are horrible

I feel like you're confused about George if you think he's a player who was seen as a much lower stature than Tatum is.

George's reputation has been hurt over time because:

a) He's someone who frequently ditches his team even when this is clearly not the right move (should never have left Indiana).

Can you elaborate why he shouldn't have left Indiana? The team was going nowhere

Well first, if you want to be a franchise player that a franchise builds around for the long term, you have to stick around for the long term. Doesn't mean leaving that situation is necessarily a mistake, but if you want to be seen as that guy, that's what you gotta do.

Re: "going nowhere". So let me more precisely say that that Pacers team wasn't as good as it had been in years prior, and so George certainly saw it as a team that was going backwards. So why shouldn't a star force his way out in such a circumstance?

a) If you're interested in having the best long-term career, typically what you want is to stick with a competent franchise that's committed to building around you. That's what the Pacers were.

b) Whenever a team succeeds around a young star - like George was - his supporting cast is probably going to be older than him and thus will need to be rejuvenated along the way. As they do so the team success will tend to dip, but that doesn't mean the franchise is a bad bet going forward.

c) When you push your way out in a trade, you sabotage your next team. Both OKC & LAC were hurt by this and it contributed to the teams not achieving more than they did, and George is among the poster boys of NBA players whose prior franchises arguably gained more by his leaving than they lost.

[O_6]

At first glance, I felt like this was a little overboard as everyone is in on the "Tatum isn't THAT guy" narrative at the moment. But after looking at it, I have to admit that it's definitely a good comparison for a lot of reasons. They aren't the same player, George had an edge in quickness which led to him being a more dangerous perimeter defender whereas Tatum has a size/strength and passing advantage which might make him a slightly better "connector" for his teams.

PLAYOFF STATS
Tatum ('20-'25) --- 26.2 PPG -- 9,1 RPG -- 5.6 APG -- 3.1 TOV -- 43/35/85 -- .564 TS% -- 91 G
George ('16-'21) -- 25.3 PPG -- 7.9 RPG -- 4.5 APG -- 3.5 TOV -- 43/35/87 -- .571 TS% -- 54 G

I mean, that's about as close as it gets when looking at just the box score stuff. It's even closer when you look at their shot distribution.

Tatum ('20-'25) --- 20.0 FGA -- 7.8 3PA -- 7.3 FTA
George ('16-'21) -- 19.0 FGA -- 8.3 3PA -- 7.2 FTA

In my head, I feel like PG had a little more extreme variance in his performances so let's take a look there...

Tatum: 11 games below .400 TS% -- 10 games above .700 TS% -- 91 G
George: 8 games below .400 TS% -- 8 games above .700 TS% -- 54 G

Yea, George did have a higher rate of exposively efficient scoring games AND terrible scoring games but nothing too crazy. This is due to the fact that Tatum is stronger closer to the rim and George relied on his jumper more. It's close. At the end of the day it comes down to PG's perimeter defensive edge vs. Tatum's slight playmaking and strength edge.

But let's not forget that despite a disappointing Finals performance in the win, Tatum led the Celtics in Points/Rebounds/Assists during that run. Tatum's 9.7 RPG in the playoff run last year was 2.7 RPG ahead of Al Horford in 2nd place. Tatum's 6.3 APG was 1.9 APG ahead of Holiday in 2nd place. Tatum's AST:TOV ratio was also very impressive as he only averaged 2.6 TOV during the run.

That kind of versatility is something I don't think George could have ever provided even at his peak. Basically 10 RPG while being the clear lead playmaker on a Championship team is what Tatum accomplished last year on top of 25 PPG (albeit on poor shooting).

PG might fit a lot of teams better as the classic 2-way perimeter stud, but Tatum had an element of toughness and ability to do the dirty work to his game that George didn't quite match. And I'm not even going to get into how I think Tatum seems like the more mature and grounded individual which definitely makes atleast a slight difference when being the team's #1.

I think it's fair to say that they were roughly on the same level as players, with Tatum having better formed supporting cast around him that lifted him into Top 5 discussions whereas PG typically settled in that borderline Top 10 range in his prime. However, I do think Tatum was a little more well-rounded as a player outside of perimeter lateral quickness. I don't think PG could have ever accomplished what Tatum did in the playoff run last year. So while they're close and around the same tier, I'd still give Tatum the edge.

[1993Playoffs]

Pre '09 LeBron is my preferred Tatum comparison.

Updated to the modern era (we jack more 3s now).

Interesting, can you explain some similarities,? If you don’t mind

[jdzimme3]

Peak paul george was a top 3 mvp candidate. I have less of an issue with the comparison than I do with the word "just".

[Heej]

I'd rather have Tatum

[LukaTheGOAT]

I lean George actually. I believe I like his skillset as a #2 more and am not enthralled enough with Tatum as a #1 to put him ahead. George is a better shooter from a standstill and off-movement, which is a factor for me.

Statistically, there still is plenty of argument for Paul George being a better scorer.


Points/75: 24.23

Assists/75: 3.19

rTS%: +2.83%

TS Add per 100: -0.84


Now if we look at Tatum

Jayson Tatum from 20-25:

Points/75: 25.77

Assists/75: 2.85

Adjusted rTS%: -0.22%

TS Add/100: -0.81


Nothing is suggestive that Tatum is in a different tier than Paul George as a scorer, prime for prime. Considering points per 75 has gone up over time, PG13's number is impressive, and overall, I would say they are in similar tiers.

Tatum's playmaking is better than George's, especially from the 22 and onwards period. But George's defense is in another tier to me. The difference between the two as screen navigators is night and day. George might be the best ever at it. While I think you could argue that is maybe a weakness of Tatum. Just look at the 2019 year in OKC. OKC13 led the league in steals, interceptions, deflected passes, and points in transition from forced turnovers, and George was the biggest proponent in that.

[slinkymaravich]

Tatum’s comfort as a stop-start driver from the nail,efficacy as a post-up reference point who demands constant strongside activity that manufactures some of Boston’s 3pt volume by default and worlds better consistency as a driver,rim-creator and passer-on-the-move(esp his opposite corner reads & weakside skips that force longer rotations) make him a considerably better offensive #1 imo. George’s a more talented outside shooter but his apex as a long 2 converter did not coincide with his apex as separation athlete(hence the fall off vs a defence like the 24’ mavs). He’s a more erroneous passer and more importantly very rarely lines up strong volume kickout creation(the reads he’s most comfortable making) with free throw volume,something Tatum does regularly vs even elite defenses that gives him an understated PS floor.

George is in a different stratosphere as a defender though,which is saying something considering JT’s regularly one of the best non-big defenders in the postseason