Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum will cement his superstar status in 2018-19
Boston Celtics second-year player Jayson Tatum will prove that he’s a budding superstar during the 2018-19 NBA season
Jayson Tatum had a great rookie season for the Boston Celtics this past season, but the best is yet to come for the former Duke standout.
During his rookie campaign, Tatum just seemed to get better and better as the season progressed. During the playoffs, he was on an entirely different level. He averaged nearly 19 points on 47 percent shooting from the field when it mattered most, and nearly led the team to the NBA Finals.
Had it not been for LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics would’ve represented the Eastern Conference against the Golden State Warriors on the NBA’s biggest stage.
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Nevertheless, if there’s one thing that we – and the Celtics – learned from that experience, it’s that Tatum is going to be special. Even though he had his doubters throughout last season, it’s hard to deny his talent.
Heading into his sophomore season, though, there is some hesitation on whether or not he’s going to be THE guy for the team moving forward. After all, both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will be returning from injury – two guys that work (probably) best when they have the ball in their hands.
But that shouldn’t stunt Tatum’s growth. Even when Irving was playing big minutes, Tatum was still extremely effective, even if it was in shorter spurts.
Hayward likely won’t hurt Tatum’s growth either, considering that he’s much more (compared to Kyrie) able to play effective basketball off the ball. The big question is, what will Jayson Tatum’s sophomore season look like?
Will it look like the playoffs, where whenever the team needed a big shot they went to him?
Possibly. Even with one of the NBA’s clutchest players returning to the lineup in Kyrie, Tatum is unique with his size and skill. It will only help take the pressure of Kyrie in crunch time.
What we saw in the playoffs from Jayson Tatum wasn’t simply a hot streak. It was a preview of what’s to come for the Boston Celtics. Tatum is a budding superstar and in 2018-19 he’s going to take the next step in his progression.
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I’m fairly confident that Tatum is going to be one of the focal points of the Celtics offense this season, and if he responds well this Boston team might have enough talent to put some doubt in a potential Warriors three-peat.