Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum has hit a temporary ceiling

With the return of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum won’t get the necessary touches to showcase his development as a player for the Boston Celtics this season 

"“Tatum is too skilled to be buried, even on a budding superteam.”"

This was said by Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver about how the returns of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will affect the performance of Jayson Tatum. Unfortunately, Ben is overlooking the fact that Tatum had his coming out party after Kyrie suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Before Kyrie’s season-ending knee injury, Jayson had to spend more time off the ball in a spot up shooter/ bystander role. For instance, Tatum would stand behind the 3-point line as Irving would try to get around his defender via isolation or pick-and-roll.

Playing off the ball contributed to Jayson touching the ball 41.7 times per game. The limited touches played a vital role in Tatum only averaging 13.3 points with 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists thru 67 games.

However, Jayson Tatum saw a dramatic shift in his role once Kyrie Irving had surgery to remove a screws in his left kneecap. The injury forced Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens to put the ball in Tatum’s hands more often. For example, Stevens would design plays where Tatum received the basketball coming off screens, in the mid to low post or behind the 3-point line.

The shift in role was a significant factor in Jayson Tatum averaging 10.7 (41.7 to 52.4) more touches per game during the last 13 regular season games. The extra touches per game led to an increase in his statistical output as he averaged 3.6 more points, 0.3 more rebounds, and 1.1 more assists.

Unfortunately, one can argue that Jayson Tatum will have a statistical regression with the return of Kyrie Irving to the lineup. Kyrie is a player who has hinted that he wasn’t happy playing second fiddle to the best player in this generation in LeBron James.

Irving appeared on an episode of ESPN’s First Take before the start of last season and stated:

"” I’m ready to move, and I’m ready to be on my own. I’m ready to try out a new situation and be in an environment where I felt like I can be happy.”"

Therefore, it is unlikely that he would be happy sharing the spotlight with a second-year player who has yet to accomplish what Kyrie has in the NBA. As a consequence, Brad Stevens will give those touches back to Kyrie because the organization knows that Irving’s camp will inform the media of their unhappiness.

Not only will Kyrie Irving’s ego get in the way of Jayson Tatum’s touches but the return of Gordon Hayward will affect it as well. Hayward missed all but five minutes and 15 seconds of last season with a broken left ankle. Due to this, the organization is probably going to give him some extra touches to get him comfortable playing on the surgical repaired left ankle.