Tatum got the bag(5 years, $195 million)

slamminsammya

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I somehow feel Lebron will be the Tom Brady of the NBA if he wants to keep playing, in which case I would have him as a top asset as well. I know that is maybe crazy but its the season for hot takes to compensate for how cold I was in Michigan.
 

DGreenwood

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I think the much more interesting question is, where is Jaylen on this list?

I think after this start it’s minimum top 20. Due to age, I think I would put him top 15?

As you said, after that top 6 it gets really murky

Luka
Giannis
Tatum
Jokic
Zion
AD

(Just thinking aloud with these next names and after typing them all out, I guess it’s how you define “asset” really)
Embiid?
Kawhi?
LeBron?
Harden?
Curry?

KAT?
Lillard?
PG?

Bam?
Booker?
Morant?
Beal?
Mitchell?
Murray?
Fox?
Trae Young is the only name I can think of that you may have left off your list. I crossed off a bunch because of age, they just don't have enough of their prime years left to be as valuable as JB will be over the next 10 years. I crossed off Fox because I don't think he's good enough to be in the group with the rest of those guys. I could see people trying to include Siakam but I don't think he's good enough to be there either.

I may be subconsciously doing this with my green tinted glasses on though. I'd rather have Brown playing alongside Tatum during Tatum's prime years than a 35-38 year old Harden.
 
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lovegtm

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Booker, Jaylen, and Mitchell are probably the top guys in the "already good, locked up, and with room to improve" basket. (Below that Luka/Tatum/Jokic tier).
 

Cesar Crespo

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Booker, Jaylen, and Mitchell are probably the top guys in the "already good, locked up, and with room to improve" basket. (Below that Luka/Tatum/Jokic tier).
Giannis is a whopping 2 months older than Jokic.


edit: Nevermind, he was named in the original post.
 

lovegtm

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Giannis is a whopping 2 months older than Jokic.


edit: Nevermind, he was named in the original post.
Yeah, everyone knows who the awesome tier is, so didn’t bother naming them all. I was just filling out the one below.
 

lovegtm

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Pretty interesting Kobe video, if you think of it in a Tatum context. I hadn't recalled that Kobe had so much trouble getting separation as the years went on--in that sense, he's a really good comp for Tatum, in that they both had to get used to make tough shots and have a lot of tricks in the midrange with step-throughs etc. Obviously Tatum is taking that to the next level by adding the pullup/stepback 3 to the arsenal at a better success rate than Kobe had.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jopi5e46PAY
 

RorschachsMask

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I feel like it’s gone somewhat under the radar, but Tatum has been a monster so far. Considering that he had to miss two weeks with covid and hasn’t had much time to really get into one of his insane rhythms, pretty impressive. It’s crazy how he consistently carries all bench lineups against other teams starters.

27/7/4, 59% TS. Team has a +7.9 net rating when he plays, and a -2.3 when he sits.
 

lovegtm

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I feel like it’s gone somewhat under the radar, but Tatum has been a monster so far. Considering that he had to miss two weeks with covid and hasn’t had much time to really get into one of his insane rhythms, pretty impressive. It’s crazy how he consistently carries all bench lineups against other teams starters.

27/7/4, 59% TS. Team has a +7.9 net rating when he plays, and a -2.3 when he sits.
The leap he’s taken is ridiculous, and you can see ways for him to go further. 27/7/4 is....not many wings get there, ever.

Also, when you see assist numbers for a guy who doesn’t bring the ball up the floor, they’re generally deflated because assists are so generous. I.e. if you watch a lot of Smart’s assists, they are basically Brown/Tatum isos where Smart was the guy who passed to them coming off the initial screen the Celtics like to run.

Point being that 4 assists/game at the wing is more than it looks, although he can still improve there.
 

RorschachsMask

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The leap he’s taken is ridiculous, and you can see ways for him to go further. 27/7/4 is....not many wings get there, ever.

Also, when you see assist numbers for a guy who doesn’t bring the ball up the floor, they’re generally deflated because assists are so generous. I.e. if you watch a lot of Smart’s assists, they are basically Brown/Tatum isos where Smart was the guy who passed to them coming off the initial screen the Celtics like to run.

Point being that 4 assists/game at the wing is more than it looks, although he can still improve there.
Yeah I’m not too worried about him continuing to improve as a playmaker, he pretty consistently makes the right read, outside of a few times a game where he tries overdribbling through traps.

His age has been a running joke for so long, but sometimes I forget that he still is a month away from even turning 23. The game will continue to slow down for him, and he will keep getting better against the constant stream of double teams and traps he faces.

He’s quite a bit away from his likely ceiling, IMO.
 

jmcc5400

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It feels like every time he dribbles into a 3 from the top of the three point arc he drains it.
 
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lovegtm

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It feels like every time he dribbles into a 3 from the top of the three point arc he drains it.
Probably because he does a ton of the time. He was one of the very top self-created 3 guys for volume and % last year.
 

RorschachsMask

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https://nesn.com/2021/02/brad-stevens-has-no-problem-playing-jayson-tatum-at-point-guard-while-shorthanded/
“Jayson Tatum can play point, and so we’ll but him in that role some and play big in that way if we need to. We’ll see how the game is going, see who is productive — especially in that first half seeing how that feels. But I have no problem putting Tatum at the 1 as well.”

This could be fun to watch, as the 22-year-old has taken his game a step higher than even last year’s level, which was worthy of All-NBA honors.

With how much work Tatum has put in to grow as a facilitator, averaging a career-high 3.7 assists per game this season, reps at point guard very conceivable could help expedite that.
 

BaseballJones

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The leap he’s taken is ridiculous, and you can see ways for him to go further. 27/7/4 is....not many wings get there, ever.

Also, when you see assist numbers for a guy who doesn’t bring the ball up the floor, they’re generally deflated because assists are so generous. I.e. if you watch a lot of Smart’s assists, they are basically Brown/Tatum isos where Smart was the guy who passed to them coming off the initial screen the Celtics like to run.

Point being that 4 assists/game at the wing is more than it looks, although he can still improve there.
He’s doing this for a championship contender too, not putting up crazy numbers on a bad team where he has to take all the shots.
 

luckiestman

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People keep mentioning Tatums leap this year but I don’t see it (and I’m a Tatum Stan). He hit a level higher last year before the break (February) that was amazing. I don’t think he is back there yet.
 

Euclis20

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People keep mentioning Tatums leap this year but I don’t see it (and I’m a Tatum Stan). He hit a level higher last year before the break (February) that was amazing. I don’t think he is back there yet.
He was quite literally the best player in the league for a month, I don't think it's fair to expect that level of play going forward. However, he's really not far off that pace. In February and March he averaged 29.2/7.6/3.3, while shooting .476/.468/.752. So far this year he's averaging 26.8/7/1.3.6 while shooting .483/.431/.833.

He hasn't taken a leap forward, but incremental improvement is huge at this stage. Unless you were expecting to see him be a 1st team all-nba candidate this year, it's hard to be disappointed. Other than his FTR (which is a career low .182), he's either continued or improved on his excellent play from the end of last year. It's been overshadowed by Jaylen's emergence, but Tatum's done nothing this year other than continue to prove he's a borderline top 10 player, with room to grow (literally and figuratively).
 

lovegtm

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People keep mentioning Tatums leap this year but I don’t see it (and I’m a Tatum Stan). He hit a level higher last year before the break (February) that was amazing. I don’t think he is back there yet.
He’s a much better playmaker now than he was during that run. I agree that during that stretch, he was getting to his 3 more in ways that were more compromising for the defense.
 

benhogan

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People keep mentioning Tatums leap this year but I don’t see it (and I’m a Tatum Stan). He hit a level higher last year before the break (February) that was amazing. I don’t think he is back there yet.
PP will give a bump to JT's efficiency.
 
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Jimbodandy

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He’s a much better playmaker now than he was during that run. I agree that during that stretch, he was getting to his 3 more in ways that were more compromising for the defense.
His TS is up on last year, as are his assist and rebounding rates and scoring/40, at a 10% higher usage rate, all with no bump in turnover rate (9.0 to 9.1). He is objectively a better offensive player. And he had Covid.

I'll defer to the more fluent on advanced def metrics.
 

luckiestman

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His TS is up on last year,

He started somewhat slow last year (for him, Russillo was off him a bit, I had diamond hands), and then after it was announced he made the AS Team, he went bonkers. I'm saying he isn't a "leap" different than post AS announcement. It's a minor point. He might be a little better this year. Brown seems like he made more of a leap. Tatum and Brown were pretty even for a while last year(debatable who was going to make AS game), then Tatum took off.
 

Jimbodandy

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He started somewhat slow last year (for him, Russillo was off him a bit, I had diamond hands), and then after it was announced he made the AS Team, he went bonkers. I'm saying he isn't a "leap" different than post AS announcement. It's a minor point. He might be a little better this year. Brown seems like he made more of a leap. Tatum and Brown were pretty even for a while last year(debatable who was going to make AS game), then Tatum took off.
That's fair. I don't have the time to pull his bubble numbers out distinctly, but I'm not sure how predictive the bubble is really either. His future leaps are likely in the overall efficiency and playmaking realms imo, and he seems to have made obvious strides on last year in the latter.

Brown's leap is absolutely larger this year, since he somehow tightned up his handle again in the month or so that he had off.
 

RorschachsMask

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View: https://twitter.com/SIChrisMannix/status/1357015783570878465?s=20

Absorbing coaching is one thing. But Tatum also implements it quickly. “Share something with Jayson once,” says Celtics coach Brad Stevens, “and he usually does it the next time down the floor. Stevens recalls a sequence during an exhibition game in Charlotte in Tatum’s rookie season. The Hornets ran a play the Celtics hadn’t worked on defending. Tatum got lost the first time. When Charlotte ran the same play a few possessions later, Tatum broke it up. Last season Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga showed Tatum a clip of Kemba Walker getting to the rim with an in-and-out dribble. The next night Tatum scored on a similar move. “His brain never gets sped up,” says Larranaga. “You tell him something in a game and he is able to immediately apply it.”
 

TripleOT

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How does Bradley Beal not become a Celtic some day, if he and JT are close like brothers?
 

benhogan

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subject: Tatum going to the hoop. Fouls. 1-foot. 2-foot. keeping the dribble past the FT line

https://theathletic.com/2368691/2021/02/05/jayson-tatum-celtics-jaylen-brown/?source=dailyemail
Another well-written article. Some randomly selected paragraphs below for non-subscribers:

Last season was mostly about Tatum developing a wide-enough variety of one-foot finishes that he could counter the counter, staying a step ahead of the defense once they adjusted to his style. This consisted of changing the rhythm of his strides, arm or shoulder pushes, dribble gathers and releases.

His biggest progress was finally having enough control of his lower body kinetic chain to take a long step forward on a drive and be able to slow his speed down just enough to open up windows besides trying to beat his man to the rim. It also made his Eurostep much more effective and he even started varying the length of his strides and adding in shorter dribbles to keep the move extending out longer. But not every situation calls for long strides and moves off of one foot.

What we are seeing now is the intersection of Brown and Tatum’s development curves, where Brown is branching out more into Tatum’s fluid long-stride driving style and Tatum is learning how to play with power and bounce like Brown.

But even with all this room for growth, Tatum’s offensive diversity this season has been elite. There are only four players in the league who are scoring at least five points on pull-up shots per game, while averaging at least a point a game in Second Spectrum’s five other play type categories: drives, catch and shoots, paint touches, post touches and elbow touches. The list is LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum.
 

amarshal2

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I can’t believe I’m the first to point this out (perhaps it’s up thread further than I read) but the most salient leap Tatum made this year is finishing around the rim. Last year even into the playoffs he struggled to finish his drives to the hoop. He went from .618 last year 0-3 to .676 this year on big volume. He’s actually shooting better on almost all 2PT shots

3-10. 10-16

374 .396

423 .473


His mix is a bit worse so his 2pt% overall has only gone from .480 to .507.

During his heater last February he was just unconscious from 3 with even circus shots in a way that was unsustainable for any human including Curry. Even though it may look flatish he has progressed in very important ways for reaching the next level as a high efficiency/ late game player.

For me the knocks are that in the bubble he was getting to the line more and creating for his teammates better. We know he’s capable and if he brings that back he’s vying for first team all nba.
 

chilidawg

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I thought Tatum was just a beast defensively last night. All over the court doubling to help out the Smurfs, and taking on Kawhi 1 on 1. Best I've seen him on that end this year. Really stepped up his game with Jaylen out.
 

benhogan

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I can’t believe I’m the first to point this out (perhaps it’s up thread further than I read) but the most salient leap Tatum made this year is finishing around the rim. Last year even into the playoffs he struggled to finish his drives to the hoop. He went from .618 last year 0-3 to .676 this year on big volume. He’s actually shooting better on almost all 2PT shots

3-10. 10-16

374 .396

423 .473


His mix is a bit worse so his 2pt% overall has only gone from .480 to .507.

During his heater last February he was just unconscious from 3 with even circus shots in a way that was unsustainable for any human including Curry. Even though it may look flatish he has progressed in very important ways for reaching the next level as a high efficiency/ late game player.

For me the knocks are that in the bubble he was getting to the line more and creating for his teammates better. We know he’s capable and if he brings that back he’s vying for first team all nba.
Tatum will continue to get better at the rim as he matures and adds 5-10lbs of muscle every offseason. He will hunt for contact, play through it, and draw more fouls. see Brown, Jaylen

People grabbed their pearls last fall when Tatum struggled at the rim. At the time, JT was really figuring out how to be the #1 option, not settle for mid-range 2s (as he did in 18-19), and drive it to the rim. As was noted at the time, JT just needed to get comfortable, develop a few tricks (euro step, two foot, keep dribble, etc) and add strength. check, check, check

#stillascending
 

Euclis20

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I'm not worried about scoring at the rim, but his lack of free throws is annoying. Right now it's the only real flaw in his game (he could improve other aspects, but he's at least average everywhere else). His FT rate is just .181, the lowest of his career (.250 career rate). He's 7th in the league in ppg, and is shooting fewer free throws than anyone in the top 20. It's nice that he's so efficient with such an obvious hole in his game, but it's still frustrating.
 

jmcc5400

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I'm not worried about scoring at the rim, but his lack of free throws is annoying. Right now it's the only real flaw in his game (he could improve other aspects, but he's at least average everywhere else). His FT rate is just .181, the lowest of his career (.250 career rate). He's 7th in the league in ppg, and is shooting fewer free throws than anyone in the top 20. It's nice that he's so efficient with such an obvious hole in his game, but it's still frustrating.
I really don’t like the frame on this Vermeer....

(Kidding. I think he’ll pick that aspect of his game up)

For me, the moment of the game last night was when he picked Kawhi up, poked the ball away to Kemba, and then attacked the rim on the other end to draw the foul.
 

benhogan

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I'm not worried about scoring at the rim, but his lack of free throws is annoying. Right now it's the only real flaw in his game (he could improve other aspects, but he's at least average everywhere else). His FT rate is just .181, the lowest of his career (.250 career rate). He's 7th in the league in ppg, and is shooting fewer free throws than anyone in the top 20. It's nice that he's so efficient with such an obvious hole in his game, but it's still frustrating.
To my eye, the lane has been clogged with this double BIG crap for a lot of JT's minutes this season. Once everyone is healthy, Brad will stop going with this nonsense. The floor will be spread and the lane will open up for Tatum. He'll be able to get downhill and draw on his man.
 

amarshal2

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Tatum will continue to get better at the rim as he matures and adds 5-10lbs of muscle every offseason. He will hunt for contact, play through it, and draw more fouls. see Brown, Jaylen

People grabbed their pearls last fall when Tatum struggled at the rim. At the time, JT was really figuring out how to be the #1 option, not settle for mid-range 2s (as he did in 18-19), and drive it to the rim. As was noted at the time, JT just needed to get comfortable, develop a few tricks (euro step, two foot, keep dribble, etc) and add strength. check, check, check

#stillascending
There were those who questioned if he’d ever be an elite finisher around the rim (as he’s looking right now) due to his smaller hand size making it hard to control the ball like the best of them in tight space. Remember he used to get stripped with regularity. He’s worked on incorporating adjustments that are imperceptible to people like me (things like when he starts his gather I wouldn’t know except that I’ve read about them) but the results are obvious.
 

Jimbodandy

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There were those who questioned if he’d ever be an elite finisher around the rim (as he’s looking right now) due to his smaller hand size making it hard to control the ball like the best of them in tight space. Remember he used to get stripped with regularity. He’s worked on incorporating adjustments that are imperceptible to people like me (things like when he starts his gather I wouldn’t know except that I’ve read about them) but the results are obvious.
Part of it is looking for contact instead of looking to avoid contact, which is a change in approach from his early years. He's creating space to get his shot off with his now burly frame and able to finish even through a lot of the hands and arms that were able to interfere with finishing previously.

But you're right that his coaching includes more hesitation and wrong-footing and shit like that. You see it with Brown and his new and improved jump stop this year too. That timing stuff helps for sure. But I think that mostly it's that they're both beasts now and eating up helpless rim defenders much more frequently.
 

lovegtm

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There were those who questioned if he’d ever be an elite finisher around the rim (as he’s looking right now) due to his smaller hand size making it hard to control the ball like the best of them in tight space. Remember he used to get stripped with regularity. He’s worked on incorporating adjustments that are imperceptible to people like me (things like when he starts his gather I wouldn’t know except that I’ve read about them) but the results are obvious.
It’s crazy how fast I had forgotten that endless strip parade whenever he drove.

Brown had a similar thing, where people questioned whether his small hand size would hurt him finishing or developing an elite handle. Oops.
 

amarshal2

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I can’t believe I’m the first to point this out (perhaps it’s up thread further than I read) but the most salient leap Tatum made this year is finishing around the rim. Last year even into the playoffs he struggled to finish his drives to the hoop. He went from .618 last year 0-3 to .676 this year on big volume. He’s actually shooting better on almost all 2PT shots

3-10. 10-16

374 .396

423 .473


His mix is a bit worse so his 2pt% overall has only gone from .480 to .507.

During his heater last February he was just unconscious from 3 with even circus shots in a way that was unsustainable for any human including Curry. Even though it may look flatish he has progressed in very important ways for reaching the next level as a high efficiency/ late game player.

For me the knocks are that in the bubble he was getting to the line more and creating for his teammates better. We know he’s capable and if he brings that back he’s vying for first team all nba.
Trying to give this more context.
In his Houston days Harden took 26% of his shots 0-3ft at a .644 clip.
In his career Kawhi has taken 23% of his shots 0-3ft at a .701 clip.
In his Boston days Irving took 23% of his shots 0-3ft at a .641 clip.
In his career LeBron has taken 36% of his shots 0-3ft at a .733 clip.
In his career Butler has taken 31% of his shots 0-3ft at a .650 clip.
In his career KD has taken 22% of his shots 0-3ft at a .727 clip.

Tatum: this season (career) is at 20% (26%) 0-3ft on .676 (.644) shooting.

He’s almost certainly taking more drives to the hoop/game but fewer as a share of his attempts the past two year vs the first two. His finish rate dipped big time last year (.618) but is way up this year. It’s possible that’s because he’s being more selective vs forcing shots, that’s part of it as there was a lot of forcing last year, but I also see just better finishing on plenty of high difficulty shots. I’d like to see him keep looking for 0-3ft shots around the rim without forcing it/making up his mind ahead of time — he’s got the moves and handle these days — and work on getting to the line. He’s getting there.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I'm not worried about scoring at the rim, but his lack of free throws is annoying. Right now it's the only real flaw in his game (he could improve other aspects, but he's at least average everywhere else). His FT rate is just .181, the lowest of his career (.250 career rate). He's 7th in the league in ppg, and is shooting fewer free throws than anyone in the top 20. It's nice that he's so efficient with such an obvious hole in his game, but it's still frustrating.
Bumping this because I was just looking at Tatum's numbers and I don't think I really realized how bad he is at getting to the line compared to potential comps. His free throw rate this year is .238. By contrast, here are the rates of other players when they were 22: Kobe .369, Durant .439, Butler .455 (technically his age-23 season, his first season of major playing time), Paul Pierce .409, Harden .587(!). Granted the league-wide FT rates have come down a bit over the years, but Tatum is still far from where he needs to be and the fact that most other stars seem to have had this skill (ability to get to the line) pretty much from the get-go does give me a good amount of concern that he'll ever bring those numbers up to where they need to be for him to truly make the next leap.

(Jaylen's numbers are also very low in this regard which could suggest this is an intentional thing that Brad is specifically coaching, but if that's the case I don't think it's a particularly wise strategy.)
 

Cesar Crespo

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The C's have attempted 4.9% less FTs this year than last and made 9.3% less.

14th in the league in FTA. Despite being in the top half, they still give up more FT than they take. 1.4 more a game, and 1.8 Makes a game.

What that means, I don't know.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Is he not drawing contact or is he not getting the superstar treatment that the other guys get?
I don't think it really has a ton to do with a lack of "superstar treatment" since, for example, Marcus Smart's rate this year is .330. And LeBron's rate in recent years has been around the .350 mark or so - which is much better than Tatum, but not outlandish.

For some reason he just doesn't seem able (yet) to draw contact the way many other players - and virtually all elite players - do. Per amarshal this will hopefully improve somewhat as he improves his finishing near the rim - I suspect one reason he isn't getting a lot of contact is because teams know of his struggles finishing and thus don't feel the need to crash down on him and expose themselves to fouls the same way they would for a player with better finishing ability. But I also think drawing contact is just a specific skill that Tatum just doesn't have (again, yet) - again looking at Smart, he's attempted significantly fewer shots at the rim as a percentage of his total shots, but as noted is still getting to the line at a much better rate than Tatum.
 

RorschachsMask

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His FTr was .177 a couple of weeks ago, seems like he’s made a concerted effort to start drawing contact more. He leads the team in drives to the rim per game, and draws the most fouls per game, just doesn’t know how to sell it when he’s trying to finish at the rim.
 

Devizier

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Tatum doesn’t really use the shots that elite FT getters do. I’m thinking the Harden/Curry kick out three, or the Pierce upfake and lean-in jumper. It doesn’t explain his entire deficiency in that regard, but some of it.
 

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Right. the Killer fade away, on which you REALLY have to try to foul to foul someone doesnt help. Its 2-3-4 shots a game that are never gonna get a foul call.
 

Euclis20

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Tatum doesn’t really use the shots that elite FT getters do. I’m thinking the Harden/Curry kick out three, or the Pierce upfake and lean-in jumper. It doesn’t explain his entire deficiency in that regard, but some of it.
When he upfakes he's far more likely lean around them for a closer shot then take the contact. He's got excellent footwork so it's all well and good when he can step into a layup, but for anything farther away he really should be taking the contact, not avoiding it. Someone with his shot profile should be getting 2-3 trips to the line each game just on upfakes, let alone when he goes to the rim.
 

slamminsammya

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I think its because he lacks explosive verticality when he goes to the rim and is not a natural finisher. Guys don't need to do much to alter his shots around the rim, teams know that, and probably are told don't bother fouling him since he isn't a great finisher down there anyways. I think its simple as that. All those other examples listed were fantastic finishers at the hoop. Fouling is partly a skill at drawing contact, but from a defender's perspective its also a calculated risk to avoid a worse outcome. If they don't think he's gonna make it by just jumping vertically with him then there is no need to make an attempt to physically alter the shot.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Mar 26, 2005
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(Jaylen's numbers are also very low in this regard which could suggest this is an intentional thing that Brad is specifically coaching, but if that's the case I don't think it's a particularly wise strategy.)
Agree with previous posts - JT's habit is to avoid contact plus he doesn't have the "Go-To-Get-Fouled" move that others, like Trae Young, has. Athletic did an article on this after ATL loss: https://theathletic.com/2396034/2021/02/18/trae-young-celtics-fouls-hawks/. One part:
This is the brilliance of a modern NBA scorer. There has been so much talk about how Jayson Tatum, one of the league’s biggest wings despite being only 22, needs to become a foul-drawing machine to reach his MVP potential. Yet Young, a few months younger than his counterpart, has already mastered the art out of necessity. Young knew the league would eventually figure out how to defend the conundrum of guarding a playmaker who can run 50 pick-and-rolls a game and pull up from 30 feet on every single one of them. So he had to make himself untouchable, and he did that by making defenders afraid to touch him.
* * * *
As Brown and Tatum start playing on-ball more and more, they need to start adopting these principles if they are going to become disruptive at the highest level.
“There’s a lot you can learn from a lot of different guys in the league, and different things,” Tatum said. “I think that’s just where film comes into play, where you watch film and maybe steal from everybody.”
Tatum needs to emphasize the Kevin Durant rip-through foul draw, when a defender has an arm up on his shoulder and he can bring his arms up under theirs to go into his shooting motion. This turnover driving on Solomon Hill showed the perfect opportunity to go up for the shot while Hill had his armbar out.
Then on the next play, he gets Hill in jail out of control and has the perfect opportunity to go straight up and get crushed from behind for a shooting foul, but he tries to keep the play alive and turns it over.
Thought Tatum drew seven fouls and got to the line 11 times, a great night for him statistically, only four of those fouls came in legitimate attacking situations. Tatum has gotten a lot of flak this season for complaining and expressing frustration, but he hasn’t been doing enough to actually sell those calls when the contact actually happens. He acknowledged recently that he needs to work more on talking to the officials during the games to try to get calls going his way, but actions speak louder than words.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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Jun 14, 2013
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Wondering (aloud) how much this has to do with some of the Celtics fourth quarter meltdowns:

The 22-year-old Tatum has done so despite a recent bout with covid-19, which he said left him getting “fatigued a lot quicker than normal” because it “messes with your breathing a little bit.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/02/22/boston-celtics-disappointing-season/
I’m sure it has affected him, but I think the ball-stopping, isolation style of offense he has decided to play lately has more to do with the team’s overall struggles.