ESPN ranks Jaylen Brown higher, Jayson Tatum lower for 2021-22 than last season

A panel of experts working for the sports media outlet gave their best effort to properly situate the duo compared to their peers.

As more 2021-22 NBA preseason player rankings roll in, we get a more complete set of expectations for where the Celtics’ top players are expected to rate from the NBA media sphere covering the team.

And this week, ESPN added their voices to the fray, publishing new player rankings for the league focused on the top 100 players in the NBA for next season — or more correctly, the players their panel of experts believe will be such players, and in what order. Already deemed to be Nos. 27 and 13 respectively in the eyes of a panel of Sports Illustrated experts, Boston’s All-Star wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were also well-received by the panel of Bristol, Connecticut-based experts at ESPN.

Even if the latter slid a bit from last season — let’s take a gander at their assessments.