What is Jayson Tatum's ceiling?

[Fencer reregistered]

By the way, there's no hard reason for Tatum's ceiling to be anything lower than Paul Pierce on offense with more consistent excellence on defense. Pierce's only impossible-to-beat advantage over Tatum is strength, but that's balanced by Tatum's length and razzle-dazzle.

[peachbucket]

Tatum has already exceeded every prediction for his ceiling from even as recently as this summer. He is playing like a top 5 player right now. Was on the floor with Lebron and Davis and he looked like best player in building tonight. This is special and he is 2-3 years away from his peak years.

Well, there's still the bit, much discussed this evening, about being more effective when the other team decides to shut him down from scoring.

ANY player struggles with that when his teammates aren't very good -- Paul Pierce certainly did in his prime -- but as good as Tatum's teammates are he should more fluently punish the attention lavished on him.

That was the first time he has seen a double team thrown at him above the three point line. Teaching him to make the right the pass at the right time at the right time in that situation that results in a wide open look for somebody else should not be difficult.

[LondonCeltics]

Just watched the highlights. The step-up in his ability to finish at the rim and knock down these 'side-step' contested threes is just incredible. Being a mostly long suffering Celtics fan every bit of me is refusing to get carried away but I'm starting to believe in the hype. If you took his stats from this run he'd be in the all NBA first team discussion. After his 1 for 18 shocker I queried whether we should pull the trigger and trade him while we could still get a lot for him. Bit of a silly take now...!

[LewisnotMiller]

Is Tatum 6'9 now?

6'9", 19 years old, favoured over Zion and Ja in the Rookie of the Year race.

In seriousness, I'm stunned by the mid season leap he's taking. I'm trying to think if I've seen this before by a Celts player.

[Ticket]

Is Tatum 6'9 now?

6'9", 19 years old, favoured over Zion and Ja in the Rookie of the Year race.

In seriousness, I'm stunned by the mid season leap he's taking. I'm trying to think if I've seen this before by a Celts player.

Reminds me a bit of that IT January stretch where he was dropping 30+ or 40+ games on the regular.

[ddb]

I'm not going to say I told you so, but I told you so. Jayson Tatum is a special talent. Top 10 player in the league throughout his prime years. The only thing I'm a little surprised at is how quickly he's becoming a Top 10 player. He's very close already. I also said there were maybe only two young players I'd trade him for. Giannis & Luka. People will say Zion, but I'd rather have Tatum over Zion. Zion scares me a bit with his style of play and size. I feel like his durability could be an issue down the line.
Tatum is LEGIT. The next great Celtics star and I feel like a good core of us knew this right away during his rookie season.

[sam_I_am]

Tatum has already exceeded every prediction for his ceiling from even as recently as this summer. He is playing like a top 5 player right now. Was on the floor with Lebron and Davis and he looked like best player in building tonight. This is special and he is 2-3 years away from his peak years.

Well, there's still the bit, much discussed this evening, about being more effective when the other team decides to shut him down from scoring.

ANY player struggles with that when his teammates aren't very good -- Paul Pierce certainly did in his prime -- but as good as Tatum's teammates are he should more fluently punish the attention lavished on him.

I said Tatum is playing like a top 5 player right now....not that he IS a top 5 player. Can he consistently perform like he has against the 2 LA teams over the rest of season? He’d have to to be in the same tier of players as Giannis.

That said, Paul Pierce’s Truth game against the Lakers came when he was 23 and he shot 13-19 for 42 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast. and was a -19 for the game. Some have ranked that a top 5 career performance and maybe his greatest regular season game ever. I remember that game well. Tatum’s game last night was better.

[jmr07019]

MVP and best player on a title team

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Spoiler:

[estendius]

The hardest part of a nba team to get a championship is have a top 5 player.
C's With Tatum. Check.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Regardless of who he is compared to or his overall ceiling, he's killing it in jersey sales lol. (and yes, it matters)

Read on Twitter

That reminds me......I need to go back and chirp on social media, because there were a whole lot of people throwing shade at the fact that Jayson Tatum was this high. Lots of "Who the hell are the people buying Jayson Tatum jerseys?"

I guess we know the answer now.

[GrandTheftRondo]

At the start of the season I was down on him more than I should have been thanks to that **** show the team provided last year. Tatum looked the exact same player and struggled to get past defenders and finish through contact. In year one he was good but he shot a lot off of passes and his successful drives mostly came from blowing by a slow help defender.

It now looks like he’s made the leap I said he and/or Brown had to make for this team to exceed my fairly low expectations.

Defensively we all know he’s a beast. His length is so disruptive and he is very good with his hands but also he moves his feet really well.

Offensively after a slow start it seems like he’s learned to slow down a bit and better read the defence. Some won’t like it but last night watching him offensively he was Kobe like with some of his shot making. Exploiting mismatches, fooling defenders with a variety of moves and hitting tough shots when needed. I think that’s been the biggest change in him offensively since his numbers have gotten better. It used to be obvious what move he was going to do a lot of the time. Now he seems more confident in his handle and his footwork. He is fooling defenders with spins, step throughs, pump fakes and at the basket using his length, strength and the backboard to finish over and around defenders.

Again like others don’t what to get too ahead of myself but the way he is ruthlessly going at elite NBA defences and putting up big numbers makes me think the Celtics have a serious MVP sort of player someday. The passing may never come naturally but as long as he can beat the trap that’s really the only important thing.

[watsonthedragon]

If these last few weeks tell us anything, it's that Tatum has all the potential in the world and can become a top 3-5, #1 option on a contender, MVP type player. He honestly just has THE perfect build and skill set to be that player. His height, length, and frame gives him the opportunity to become an absolute monster on the defensive end and in the post on offense, which we've already started to see. He shoots lights out from everywhere and can get his shot off over basically anyone (i.e. yesterdays side-step 3 over AD). Finally, to top it off, he's figuring out how to get to the line at will. These are THE tools needed to become an ELITE wing (the league's most important position) and he checks just about every box. Dude's the future of this franchise and everything else is ancillary.

[Fantaxp7]

Tatum seen here with his ceiling.

[100proof]

Last 15 games
28ppg
7rpg
3.2apg
1.3spg
1.1bpg
2 turnover

49.1%
46.5%
78.8%

[2Mas]

Similar to when Pierce was nicknamed the truth by shaq in LA.

Any chance absolute becomes tatum's new nickname? Doned by another LA rival in the same building.

Lol am i reaching? Just better than the typical JT0 style name. I think Absolute would be dope.

[azee2890]

Does anyone remember when the majority of this board wanted to trade Tatum and Brown so we could see the Kyrie AD show? (with the risk that AD might walk a year later)

Home grown talent is far more valuable than rented talent. Duncan, Kobe, Nowitzki, Wade, Pierce, Magic, Bird, Jordan etc.

That is decades of sustained success. The best way to build a dynasty.

We'll see how long the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets last in comparison to the Bucks or Celtics. I'd be much more comfortable being a Bucks or Celtics fan right now.

[Slax]

Does anyone remember when 75% of this board wanted to trade Tatum and Brown so we could see the Kyrie AD show for one rental season?

Home grown talent is far more valuable than rented talent. Duncan, Kobe, Nowitzki, Wade, Pierce, Magic, Bird, Jordan etc.

That is decades of sustained success. The best way to build a dynasty.

We'll see how long the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets last in comparison to the Bucks or Celtics. I'd be much more comfortable being a Bucks or Celtics fan right now.

I genuinely don't remember 75% of this board being interested in trading both Tatum and Brown for a one season rental of AD.

[bisme37]

Super excited for Playoff Tatum. I think his talent and skill set lends itself to playoff basketball better than perhaps anyone else in the East. Not that he's suddenly going to be a better player than Giannis but I can see JT having the better postseason and reaching full superstar status.

[Gomes3PC]

Tatum's free throw rate is probably the biggest part of this leap forward in February. In his last 10 games, he's gotten to the line 78 games. In the 42 games prior to that, he had 164. He's basically doubled his FTAs/g in the last 10.

Now, I am not sure he is truly going to continue averaging 8 FT/g, but if he does, I think it raises his ceiling considerably. The difference between a guy who is best as a 1B and a true alpha is often the ability to put your head down, draw contact and get to the line when all else is failing for your team. Here's the list of guys averaging 8 FTs/game:

Harden
Giannis
Trae
Luka
Jimmy
Embiid
Davis
Beal

All those guys save maybe JoJo are legit #1 offensive options, and all of them are legit alphas overall save for Trae and Beal thanks to their putrid defensive performances (Beal more likely related to effort, admittedly).