Better current player: Brown or Tatum?

[Wes-J]

When Tatum is aggressive he’s the better player. Much more skilled and polished at this stage of their careers. However when Tatum is passive and floats around the perimeter watching the ball then I give the edge to Brown. I’m extremely pleased they are both Celtics

Still this. Aggressive Tatum has a chance to be a top 5 player in this league. It’s all in his head

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

[Wes-J]

Brown seems like a Harrison Barnes. Tatum a Paul George.

I can't imagine a bigger insult to Jaylen Brown.

Well, there was the Jeff Green comps.

[Wes-J]

Do people here still think Brown is better than Tatum?

I’ve said during the season that Tatum is one another level.

Taking nothing away from Brown, he is a good player in his on right. We know he is recovering from a hamstring injury. But this is before the injury. Tatum is special man, he is doing things for a rookie that is hasn’t been done since Larry Bird.

Tatum just became the only Celtic rookie in the team’s history to score 20 or more points in 5 straight playoff games. He passed one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Bird had 4 straight games of 20 or more points in the playoffs. Tatum isn’t playing better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. It’s truly amazing to watch.

Still hatin on Jaylen? Don't give up do you??

Pounce while the irons are hot.

[GreenBloodedC]

When Tatum is aggressive he’s the better player. Much more skilled and polished at this stage of their careers. However when Tatum is passive and floats around the perimeter watching the ball then I give the edge to Brown. I’m extremely pleased they are both Celtics

Still this. Aggressive Tatum has a chance to be a top 5 player in this league. It’s all in his head

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

[Homerclease]

When Tatum is aggressive he’s the better player. Much more skilled and polished at this stage of their careers. However when Tatum is passive and floats around the perimeter watching the ball then I give the edge to Brown. I’m extremely pleased they are both Celtics

Still this. Aggressive Tatum has a chance to be a top 5 player in this league. It’s all in his head

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Oh absolutely. Kid has all the bells and whistles to be an elite player in this league.

[Wes-J]

Still this. Aggressive Tatum has a chance to be a top 5 player in this league. It’s all in his head

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

[Homerclease]

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

A lot of those guys are going to be out of the league when Tatum hits his prime. He just turned 20

[Wes-J]

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

A lot of those guys are going to be out of the league when Tatum hits his prime. He just turned 20

Don't worry, he's got plenty of other competition.

[GreenBloodedC]

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

That's obviously waaay ahead of the future, but I'm talking about potential here. Even Pierce himself acknowledged that Tatum is way better than him as a rookie, moreso as a 20 year old.

Whether he reaches it is another discussion altogether.

I don't think it is ridiculous to think that the potential is there.

[Wes-J]

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

That's obviously waaay ahead of the future, but I'm talking about potential here. Even Pierce himself acknowledged that Tatum is way better than him as a rookie, moreso as a 20 year old.

Whether he reaches it is another discussion altogether.

I don't think it is ridiculous to think that the potential is there.

While top 5 potential is being thrown out there, I'm not sure he's got more potential than his own teammate.

Just saying.

[GreenBloodedC]

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

That's obviously waaay ahead of the future, but I'm talking about potential here. Even Pierce himself acknowledged that Tatum is way better than him as a rookie, moreso as a 20 year old.

Whether he reaches it is another discussion altogether.

I don't think it is ridiculous to think that the potential is there.

While top 5 potential is being thrown out there, I'm not sure he's got more potential than his own teammate.

Just saying.

Love 'em both. As long as they both improve and reach their full potential, we're all winners here.

[BfB]

This whole argument is **** stupid and entirely borne out of a fear that one will be traded.

We have both and they’ve both done things that players of their age/experience rarely do


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[soxfan2003]

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

Pierce was never considered top 5 by the nba pundits/writers but he was 5th in win shares in 2001-02 and he was on a team that didn't exactly make it easy for him to get proper national recognition. Looking at that regular season and post season stats and taking into account quality of teammates and what the other players did in context, I actually think PP looking back has a legit claim to being in the argument for the 5th best player in 2001-2. Certainly if he wasn't top 5 that year just a smidgen behind whoever you want to put 5th.

I was no Antoine Walker hater -- he had a great quote about shooting 4's -- but Walker at times getting modestly more credit than his game deserved detracted from Pierce getting all of the credit he deserved. PP wasn't just a "professional scorer", guy could defend and come up with the tough physical rebounds.

Remember the series OKC with KD/Westbrook/Harden/Ibaka lost against Miami. I suspect they win it with a 22 year old PP replacing Harden since PP was the more willing defender. He might get torched by Lebron since everyone can be torched by the guy but he would have fought the guy and not backed down. That to me is worth a lot.

Stuff like top 5 players I think is often arbitrary when you get past the no brainers like Lebron/Shaq/Jordan/Duncan, I never thought Clyde Drexler at his best really helped teams win games much more than Paul Pierce. But Drexler had significantly better teammates for his peak years than Pierce so he finished 2nd and 5th in the MVP voting two seasons. But his top win share performance compared to rest of the league wasn't even higher than Pierce's best.

[Wes-J]

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

Pierce was never considered top 5 by the nba pundits/writers but he was 5th in win shares in 2001-02 and he was on a team that didn't exactly make it easy for him to get proper national recognition. Looking at that regular season and post season stats and taking into account quality of teammates and what the other players did in context, I actually think PP looking back has a legit claim to being in the argument for the 5th best player in 2001-2. Certainly if he wasn't top 5 that year just a smidgen behind whoever you want to put 5th.

I was no Antoine Walker hater -- he had a great quote about shooting 4's -- but Walker at times getting modestly more credit than his game deserved detracted from Pierce getting all of the credit he deserved. PP wasn't just a "professional scorer", guy could defend and come up with the tough physical rebounds.

Remember the series OKC with KD/Westbrook/Harden/Ibaka lost against Miami. I suspect they win it with a 22 year old PP replacing Harden since PP was the more willing defender. He might get torched by Lebron since everyone can be torched by the guy but he would have fought the guy and not backed down. That to me is worth a lot.

Stuff like top 5 players I think is often arbitrary when you get past the no brainers like Lebron/Shaq/Jordan/Duncan, I never thought Clyde Drexler at his best really helped teams win games much more than Paul Pierce. But Drexler had significantly better teammates for his peak years than Pierce so he finished 2nd and 5th in the MVP voting two seasons. But his top win share performance compared to rest of the league wasn't even higher than Pierce's best.

You need not bother to sell me on Pierce. I know what he is and know that he was undervalued for so long.

My point was to emphasize in brief the level of player it takes to be considered top 5.

To my recollection we haven't had that guy since Bird.

[Wes-J]

This whole argument is **** stupid and entirely borne out of a fear that one will be traded.

We have both and they’ve both done things that players of their age/experience rarely do


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Pointless and futile exercise in debate.

These kids are gonna continue to one up each other by the day.

[cloverleaf]

Do people here still think Brown is better than Tatum?

I’ve said during the season that Tatum is one another level.

Taking nothing away from Brown, he is a good player in his on right. We know he is recovering from a hamstring injury. But this is before the injury. Tatum is special man, he is doing things for a rookie that is hasn’t been done since Larry Bird.

Tatum just became the only Celtic rookie in the team’s history to score 20 or more points in 5 straight playoff games. He passed one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Bird had 4 straight games of 20 or more points in the playoffs. Tatum isn’t playing better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. It’s truly amazing to watch.

Still hatin on Jaylen? Don't give up do you??

Pounce while the irons are hot.

That's hating on Jaylen?

[brackdan70]

Top 5? Wow, not a chance in hell but I'm good with that. Happy if he hits top 20.

Interested to see how much his body fills out and how that changes his game.

Based on what I've seen from him throughout the season, and particularly the playoffs, the potential is definitely there.

He can create his own shots, score efficiently, already above average on D, clutch, and his only offensive weakness is his passing, which he is not really bad at, and most importantly the attitude to be great, all while being a rookie.

And all his supposed weakness in college are now his strengths in the NBA - 3 point shot, defense, fitting into a system.

Struggling to recall a time when Celtic great Paul Pierce was considered a top 5 player in the league. So we're saying he's going to be better than Pierce?? Pierce is HOF but I'm not sure he was ever truly considered a top 5 player in the league.

Understand what that means, being a top 5 guy. That's rarified air, KD, LeBron, Harden, AD, Steph, Kawhi, Giannis, Westbrook territory. Think about what Kyrie has accomplished and largely not considered a top 5 player. Top 5 guys are their own brands.

Expectations getting a little out of hand here.

Ok. Top 6

[radcot]

You need not bother to sell me on Pierce. I know what he is and know that he was undervalued for so long.

My point was to emphasize in brief the level of player it takes to be considered top 5.

To my recollection we haven't had that guy since Bird.

FWIW KG was 1st Team All-NBA in 2007-08. Pierce never made 1st Team. Made 2nd in 2009 and 3rd three times ('02, '03, '08)

[claycarver]

I think a more interesting question would be who is the better player between Brown and Simmons. Ainge might have stolen the best player in each of the last 2 drafts.

[CeltsfaninDC]

Brown has made major strides this year in his game. His shooting has clearly been better and his confidence in his shot is fueling his gains offensively. His outside shooting is leading to him being able to drive more and finish. He had a few 30 pt games in the playoffs before he got hurt. Imagine what he'd be doing in his series if he was 100%. I think the real difference between the two is on the defensive end. Brown is clearly the better defender and probably will be for a while. I think Brown ends up being more of the Scotty Pippen in this equation while Tatum becomes the big wing scorer (no, I'm not comparing him to MJ - he's got a ways to go before he gets even close to those comps).