What is Jayson Tatum's ceiling?

[ConstableGeneva]

I wish he would replace the running full speed line drive "floater".He is making more of them, but I still hate it. Most floaters are bad and his looks particularly bad. The full speed running line drive floater is an extremely difficult shot. I am amazed every time it goes in.

I wish he would go more to the Hayward type tricks and just pull up from 10 feet. Drive down there and then hit the the 8 foot fadeaway Hayward style. Watch Kawhi and see how he does it. Tatum appears to be pretty good when he goes to more of a jumper from that range. He just rarely ever does it. If you have to shoot a floater, get yourself far more under control, and get more high jump instead of long jump.

I also hate those floaters from the middle. But I think a decent floater is really nice to have in your arsenal against today's defenses. Maybe he could study Joe Johnson, one of the best to have a floater game. Or take em from the sides as Curry does and have the backboard as his friend? But yeah, he needs to be more on balance when he takes those.

[Fencer reregistered]

Two-handed short-range bank shots FTW. Hayward excels at those, so the knowhow exists in-house.

[Slax]

Funnily the questions surrounding Tatum coming into the draft was if he could shoot the three and defend enough... his growth in those areas along with his playmaking have been eye opening.

Growth?

Tatum is an elite 3pt shooter. Elite defender.

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Yeah I think that's sprash's point - the things people were worried would be his biggest weaknesses coming into the draft because he didn't show those capabilities in college have ended up becoming his biggest strengths in the NBA. The player we ended up getting is completely different from the one we were projecting.

I would add to the list that a lot of people thought he didn't have the size to play NBA power forward. The positional logjam at the 2/3 with Jaylen, Bradley, Crowder, and Smart already here was a big part of why Josh Smith and (as we later discovered, although he wasn't open about it at the time) Tatum both originally saw Phoenix as the more desirable destination. Besides consolidation trades and injuries, Tatum being able to play the 4 from the beginning was a huge factor in his getting enough minutes to shine in his rookie year.

[ConstableGeneva]

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[Feed Your Head]

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Just look at his recent defensive numbers: According to Second Spectrum tracking data, 97 players have recorded at least 250 half-court matchups on defense this postseason. Tatum ranks first in effective field goal percentage (eFG) allowed at 38.4%

[ddb]

I've been saying it for awhile now that Tatum during his prime years will be cemented in as a Top10 player overall. I think he peaks as a Top5 player for a few years as well. He's absolutely capable of being the best player on a Championship team. Shoot, it could happen next month!
As far as comparisons go, Paul George is the easy comp. A lot of similarities between the two in terms of size, defensive instincts, etc. I think Tatum will end up being a better version of PG which puts him a bit closer to KD & Kobe. Tatum is well on his way to being better then Paul Pierce. Not a knock on Pierce who is clearly a hall of famer. I just see Tatum as the type of player capable of taking it a step further and being a true superstar comfortably placed in the Top10.

A good exercise to figure out where Tatum falls in this league is the following:

Would you trade Tatum straight up for James Harden? Ummmmm no. Give me Tatum.
Would you trade Tatum for Zion? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Ben Simmons? hahahahaha
Would you trade Tatum for Embiid? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Anthony Davis? I think Danny already had his chance and didn't, granted there were concerns AD would flee.
Would you trade Tatum for Kawaii? No, I wouldn't because Tatum is 22!

Point I'm trying to make is that there's probably only 1 player I'd trade Tatum for right now. And that's Luka. But even still I'm happy with Tatum over Luka because Tatum plays defense. Luka is a sensation. Tatum isn't far behind.

[Celts17Pride]

I've been saying it for awhile now that Tatum during his prime years will be cemented in as a Top10 player overall. I think he peaks as a Top5 player for a few years as well. He's absolutely capable of being the best player on a Championship team. Shoot, it could happen next month!
As far as comparisons go, Paul George is the easy comp. A lot of similarities between the two in terms of size, defensive instincts, etc. I think Tatum will end up being a better version of PG which puts him a bit closer to KD & Kobe. Tatum is well on his way to being better then Paul Pierce. Not a knock on Pierce who is clearly a hall of famer. I just see Tatum as the type of player capable of taking it a step further and being a true superstar comfortably placed in the Top10.

A good exercise to figure out where Tatum falls in this league is the following:

Would you trade Tatum straight up for James Harden? Ummmmm no. Give me Tatum.
Would you trade Tatum for Zion? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Ben Simmons? hahahahaha
Would you trade Tatum for Embiid? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Anthony Davis? I think Danny already had his chance and didn't, granted there were concerns AD would flee.
Would you trade Tatum for Kawaii? No, I wouldn't because Tatum is 22!

Point I'm trying to make is that there's probably only 1 player I'd trade Tatum for right now. And that's Luka. But even still I'm happy with Tatum over Luka because Tatum plays defense. Luka is a sensation. Tatum isn't far behind.

Funny when going through your exercise Luka was the only name that popped in my head. No knock on Tatum, Luka is just a special player.

Tatum is a stud. That fact that a age 22 he is the teams #1 option and now in the playoffs is getting 5-9 assists per game. Wow!!

Ainge has to do everything to keep Tatum in Boston

[Feed Your Head]

I’ve always said Luka is the better prospect, but that I’d take Tatum because I love him.

I’ll say this though, if Tatums postseason playmaking is for real, and he can become a 5-6 assist a game guy, with the massive edge he has defensively....its suddenly a lot closer.

[ddb]

I've been saying it for awhile now that Tatum during his prime years will be cemented in as a Top10 player overall. I think he peaks as a Top5 player for a few years as well. He's absolutely capable of being the best player on a Championship team. Shoot, it could happen next month!
As far as comparisons go, Paul George is the easy comp. A lot of similarities between the two in terms of size, defensive instincts, etc. I think Tatum will end up being a better version of PG which puts him a bit closer to KD & Kobe. Tatum is well on his way to being better then Paul Pierce. Not a knock on Pierce who is clearly a hall of famer. I just see Tatum as the type of player capable of taking it a step further and being a true superstar comfortably placed in the Top10.

A good exercise to figure out where Tatum falls in this league is the following:

Would you trade Tatum straight up for James Harden? Ummmmm no. Give me Tatum.
Would you trade Tatum for Zion? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Ben Simmons? hahahahaha
Would you trade Tatum for Embiid? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Anthony Davis? I think Danny already had his chance and didn't, granted there were concerns AD would flee.
Would you trade Tatum for Kawaii? No, I wouldn't because Tatum is 22!

Point I'm trying to make is that there's probably only 1 player I'd trade Tatum for right now. And that's Luka. But even still I'm happy with Tatum over Luka because Tatum plays defense. Luka is a sensation. Tatum isn't far behind.

Funny when going through your exercise Luka was the only name that popped in my head. No knock on Tatum, Luka is just a special player.

Tatum is a stud. That fact that a age 22 he is the teams #1 option and now in the playoffs is getting 5-9 assists per game. Wow!!

Ainge has to do everything to keep Tatum in Boston

I don't think we have to worry about that for awhile. Tatum will get the max this summer a year ahead of becoming a RFA. So next year still on rookie contract then his new deal will kick in. He's locked in for the foreseeable future. Pair that with the history of the Celtics, the leadership, and facilities, the fan base, and of course the fact that they have a really good young team.....no worries on Tatum leaving anytime soon.

[Jaqua92]

I've been saying it for awhile now that Tatum during his prime years will be cemented in as a Top10 player overall. I think he peaks as a Top5 player for a few years as well. He's absolutely capable of being the best player on a Championship team. Shoot, it could happen next month!
As far as comparisons go, Paul George is the easy comp. A lot of similarities between the two in terms of size, defensive instincts, etc. I think Tatum will end up being a better version of PG which puts him a bit closer to KD & Kobe. Tatum is well on his way to being better then Paul Pierce. Not a knock on Pierce who is clearly a hall of famer. I just see Tatum as the type of player capable of taking it a step further and being a true superstar comfortably placed in the Top10.

A good exercise to figure out where Tatum falls in this league is the following:

Would you trade Tatum straight up for James Harden? Ummmmm no. Give me Tatum.
Would you trade Tatum for Zion? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Ben Simmons? hahahahaha
Would you trade Tatum for Embiid? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Anthony Davis? I think Danny already had his chance and didn't, granted there were concerns AD would flee.
Would you trade Tatum for Kawaii? No, I wouldn't because Tatum is 22!

Point I'm trying to make is that there's probably only 1 player I'd trade Tatum for right now. And that's Luka. But even still I'm happy with Tatum over Luka because Tatum plays defense. Luka is a sensation. Tatum isn't far behind.

I love Tatum. I'll admit that now. But Luka turned a s*** Mavericks team into a playoff team. He's already the top 5 player in the league, arguably. He's got top 10 all time potential. I think Luca is on the separate tier than Tatum. Tatum may never put up a season as good as Lou could just did, and he may never have a series as good as Lucas first series. Datum is a future superstar. But I think Luka is a totally different animal

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[ddb]

I've been saying it for awhile now that Tatum during his prime years will be cemented in as a Top10 player overall. I think he peaks as a Top5 player for a few years as well. He's absolutely capable of being the best player on a Championship team. Shoot, it could happen next month!
As far as comparisons go, Paul George is the easy comp. A lot of similarities between the two in terms of size, defensive instincts, etc. I think Tatum will end up being a better version of PG which puts him a bit closer to KD & Kobe. Tatum is well on his way to being better then Paul Pierce. Not a knock on Pierce who is clearly a hall of famer. I just see Tatum as the type of player capable of taking it a step further and being a true superstar comfortably placed in the Top10.

A good exercise to figure out where Tatum falls in this league is the following:

Would you trade Tatum straight up for James Harden? Ummmmm no. Give me Tatum.
Would you trade Tatum for Zion? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Ben Simmons? hahahahaha
Would you trade Tatum for Embiid? Nope
Would you trade Tatum for Anthony Davis? I think Danny already had his chance and didn't, granted there were concerns AD would flee.
Would you trade Tatum for Kawaii? No, I wouldn't because Tatum is 22!

Point I'm trying to make is that there's probably only 1 player I'd trade Tatum for right now. And that's Luka. But even still I'm happy with Tatum over Luka because Tatum plays defense. Luka is a sensation. Tatum isn't far behind.

I love Tatum. I'll admit that now. But Luka turned a s*** Mavericks team into a playoff team. He's already the top 5 player in the league, arguably. He's got top 10 all time potential. I think Luca is on the separate tier than Tatum. Tatum may never put up a season as good as Lou could just did, and he may never have a series as good as Lucas first series. Datum is a future superstar. But I think Luka is a totally different animal

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hence why I said Luka is a sensation and probably the only player I'd trade Tatum for.

[Fencer reregistered]

Claim: Tatum is hitting superstardom right now. Reasons start with the elite defense and the unassisted threes. Stats can be found to show he is #1 in the league at not just the 3s (as already posted) but also man-to-man defense (more dubious as an overall conclusion, but there is one efficiency-against stat that ranks him as best).

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29885642/this-jayson-tatum-chance-cement-superstar-transformation

[Floody100]

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Third season but first playoff run as the #1 option leading the team in the Eastern Conference Finals & apparently he ‘one day may be a top 10 guy’ lol

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[sprash9802]

Still wish he'd drive more to the basket and finish strong. Thats the area of his game that he has to work on. Maybe adding some more muscle would help too. He still settles a lot for really bad shots when he should try and initiate contact. Wish he could talk to Pierce about the latter's footwork and the art of drawing fouls. It would help him immensely.

[Jaqua92]

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Third season but first playoff run as the #1 option leading the team in the Eastern Conference Finals & apparently he ‘one day may be a top 10 guy’ lol

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He isn't a top 10 guy yet

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[Saint Lazarus]

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Third season but first playoff run as the #1 option leading the team in the Eastern Conference Finals & apparently he ‘one day may be a top 10 guy’ lol

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He isn't a top 10 guy yet

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Nick wright got you all playing his moving goalposts like max Kellerman

[Jaqua92]

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Third season but first playoff run as the #1 option leading the team in the Eastern Conference Finals & apparently he ‘one day may be a top 10 guy’ lol

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He isn't a top 10 guy yet

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Nick wright got you all playing his moving goalposts like max Kellerman

I've never said he was top 10. Not once.

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[Saint Lazarus]

He isn't a top 10 guy yet

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Nick wright got you all playing his moving goalposts like max Kellerman

I've never said he was top 10. Not once.

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Nick Wright said Tatum wasn’t a star (even though he made the all star team and probably will make all nba this year). Nick wright also said he was a top 16-27 player in the league.

Now he’s suddenly “not a top 10 guy” as if that was his original argument. He got you guys all **** up like Kellerman and the cliff

[Jaqua92]

Nick wright got you all playing his moving goalposts like max Kellerman

I've never said he was top 10. Not once.

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Nick Wright said Tatum wasn’t a star (even though he made the all star team and probably will make all nba this year). Nick wright also said he was a top 16-27 player in the league.

Now he’s suddenly “not a top 10 guy” as if that was his original argument. He got you guys all **** up like Kellerman and the cliff

I've never said Tatum was top 10. And spent most the season thinking he was top 20 who improved to top 15-12. I have no idea what Nick Wright said.

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