Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is no stranger to the Boston Celtics or the NBA, having been a head coach for the last 21 years after a 13-year NBA career. Nine of the seasons he spent as a head coach came with the Celtics, whom he guided to a championship in 2008.
That said, the gruff and humorous head coach knows how to evaluate NBA talent and has likely — at least as much as possible — paid attention to the Celtics as much as any team not in Los Angeles.
So when he praises Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, actually marveling at the 21-year-old’s growth in just his third season in the NBA, it’s worth taking heed of. Rivers, in a thoughtful and eloquent pregame presser, would raise the open-ended question of where Tatum would be five years from now after already being named as an All-Star and being universally regarded as one of the better players in the league.
Doc Rivers on Jayson Tatum: "Can you imagine five years from now what he'll be? He's one of the better players in the NBA…it's going to be amazing." #Celtics pic.twitter.com/KShLtM1Fds
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 14, 2020
“Can you imagine five years from now what he’ll be? He’s one of the better players in the league and an All-Star, yet we’re still talking about how young and how much better he’ll be. He’s going to be amazing.”
Tatum is averaging 22.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per game this season, which are career-highs in every category and all while having a career-high usage rate of 28.1 percent. Though shooting 43.9 percent from the field he’s still scoring efficiently from three-point range as well (37.8 percent).
He’s cut back on long two-point shots, which account for just 9 percent of his total field goal attempts this season after being 17.7 percent of his total shot attempts in his first two years. Playing with regard to basketball analytics, he’s increased his three-point attempts (career-high 37.3 percent three-point attempt rate) while getting to the line a career-high 4.3 times per game.
He’s playing more patiently while still being aggressive and he’s using his defensive pressure to generate easy shots from himself.
As Rivers says, “he’s just taking better shots. His shot quality is better than it was last year. He seems just more confident. Free in a very positive way.”
The sky does appear to be the limit for the St. Louis native, with room and expectation for him to improve as a scorer and facilitator moving forward.
A lack of push-and-pull among the starters has benefited Tatum tremendously in this regard, as he’s now allowed to play to the best of his ability without egos or anxieties effecting his touches.
He can just go out and ball; and the world can just sit back and watch.