Jayson Tatum Could Be ‘Third Best Player’ in NBA

The NBA Finals are in full swing, whereby the Boston Celtics hold a commanding 2-0 series lead over their opponents, the Dallas Mavericks .

But off the court, Celtics star Jayson Tatum ’s name drew some attention when NBA reporter Zach Lowe stated that he felt the five-time All-Star wasn’t a top-five player in the league, something which journalist Mark Medina refutes, making an argument for him not just being a top-five player in the league, but potentially even inside the top three.

Firmly in Control of the Finals

Only five teams in Finals history have come back to win an NBA title after being down 2-0

The Celtics hold a commanding 2-0 series lead and are looking to stretch that lead to 3-0 when they go on the road to take on Dallas at the American Airlines Center, which would almost certainly put the series all but out of reach of Luka Dončić , Kyrie Irving and co, who are hoping to turn their early misfortunes around, though history does not favor them, with only five teams having been able to mount a comeback to win the Finals after losing their opening two contests.

This early dominance in the series for Boston has been as a result of the charge led by duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown , who, in the past, have received their fair share of criticism – perhaps even an unfair amount – for not yet bringing a championship to the city.

But, as it stands, they are currently withstanding the pressure of the Mavericks to great effect, with the help of other All-Stars around them on the roster, including Kristaps Porzingis , Jrue Holiday and Al Horford .

Now, having appeared to have learned from their mistakes in seasons past, the pair are now closer than ever to getting their hands on the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time in their careers, which, if they do go on to win, would be considered to be the start of a potential dynasty brewing.

For Tatum, in particular, a championship ring could do wonders for his individual legacy, having borne much of the brunt of criticism when the playoffs haven’t gone in favor of the Celtics in the past due to underperforming by his standards when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of playoff basketball.

Though one thing has remained a constant – he has been one of the league’s most durable players, having already recorded 110 post-season outings at the mere age of 26, with the Celtics having been a mainstay in title contention virtually every season since his arrival into the league back in 2017.

However, NBA insider Zach Lowe recently dubbed the three-time All-NBA first team player, in a podcast appearance on the Hoop Collective hosted by Brian Windhorst, as a “great player” but not a top-five superstar, instead proposing that he is more fitting being ranked between 7th-10th on the list of best active players, or perhaps sixth place at a push.

Though he does concede that the Celtics have a plethora of guys that are top-50 players, which is why they have built such a “powerful formula” in Boston.

Tatum’s Individual Value Could Be Diminished Due to Celtics’ Overall Talent

Before explaining where his own opinions lie in the best active player debate, Medina hands full respect to Lowe, and acknowledges that Tatum could well lie outside the top five players in the NBA.

However, the journalist has the Celtics guard at fourth overall in his own estimation, and even makes the argument that he could even be top-three, though he also feels that Tatum doesn’t necessarily get the same type of recognition as other stars due to being on a team that is stacked with talent all over the court.

Tatum Is a ‘Winning Player’

Made up for his career-low 28.9 3P% in post-season with a career-high 6.3 APG

Medina further makes the case for Tatum’s consideration as a top-three-to-five player by stating that, individually, he has shown tremendous improvements in his overall game, while he has also shown he can mesh well with his All-Star teammates and adapt his game to emphasize and play to their strengths.

Throughout the post-season, Tatum has led the Celtics in scoring, albeit only marginally, in which he has averaged 24.9 points per outing, shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 0.3 points more than teammate, Brown.

However, he has struggled from behind the three-point line, scoring at a rate of only 28.9 percent – the lowest mark of his post-season career, which is the first time that he has show below 30 percent – a mark that has been bettered by all of his teammates who have averaged more than 15 minutes per contest during this year’s post-season run.

Tatum’s overall shooting numbers in the Finals aren’t exactly characteristic of him either, where he has averaged only 17.0 points at a 31.6 percent shooting clip, the lowest field goal percentage by an All-NBA First Team player since 1960.

Nonetheless, he has made up for his shooting struggles in other aspects of the game, such as his passing distribution, where he has so far aggregated a career-high 6.3 assists per contest, further highlighting the chemistry with his teammates that has been a strong point of discussion of late, while also being active off the boards, grabbing a team-high 10.3 rebounds.

His facilitation of the basketball to his teammates alone during the Celtics’ post-season run has been responsible for a 3.3 point increase in points created, totaling 16.3 points per contest, with 11.1 percent of his passes turning into assists, a 1.2 percent increase from his regular season numbers.

In the early stages of the Finals, this number has substantially increased again, where Tatum is currently notching 8.5 assists, of which his passes have created 20.0 of Boston’s 106.0 total points average, which translates into an assist-to-pass percentage of 14.9 percent, the highest mark among any player in the entire series, Celtics or Mavericks.

So, while Tatum has struggled with his shooting of late, his overall impact can simply not be understated, with the five-time All-Star being one of the most integral pieces of Boston’s playoff run thus far, and with the team now only two wins away from NBA championship glory, they just have one thing to ask of him: to be the winner he has proven he can be for just a little while longer.

All statistics courtesy of Statmuse, ESPN, NBA.com and Basketball Reference.

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