Wes-J wrote:I've only defended Jaylen as much as anyone because I've felt the "level'' of criticism is unwarranted in many cases. There's this bizarre need to choose between Tatum and Jaylen and the constant adnaseum comparisons between the two. We've got both, and both are here to stay for a long time.
Tatum is undisputedly better, I don't get the need to trash Jaylen because of this fact. Jaylen is firmly entrenched as a league wide #2 guy, and with any luck he'll be a championship support level player like a Klay Thompson.
I'm on his side but I've got no issues calling him out when he's not playing at a level to which he's capable. Same goes for Tatum, but everybody must understand my expectation, standard, is much higher than Jaylen's. I don't like talks of MVP when the team is something like 9-8 in the last 17, that's just Toronto level mediocre.
Oh how great would it be if everyone thinks like this, right? But then it would make one boring forum. Did the Marcus Smart hate at its peak even come close to this?
Jaylen is not as talented as Tatum. True. He's older than Tatum. True. It's also true that he can still improve. It's also true that he can still close the gap between the two of them. And it's true that the closer Jaylen closes that gap, the better we will be.
The thing is will it hurt Tatum's MVP chances (now and in the future) the better Jaylen becomes? LBJ wasn't winning MVPs with Wade and Bosh at his side. Neither did both Steph and Durant when they were wearing the same uniform. Could this be why people are so insistent on pushing the narrative that Jaylen is horrible, not even top 25, and that the Jays are not even the best duo in the league? I don't know. I don't know.