Call them the Jay Team, Fire and Ice, or just JB and JT — whatever you call Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, they are among the league’s best players under age 25, and near the top of the list at that.
And that’s exactly the conclusion the staff of The Playgrounder came to in a recent ranking exercise of the top 25 players under age 25; the Boston Celtic dynamic wing duo is the second-highest rated such duo on any one team — and Tatum is the highest-rated member of any duo of players on the list at that.
The tandem of New Orleans Pelicans Zion Williamson at third and ninth respectively takes the (king) cake, but Tatum in second place above Williams with Brown at No. 11 is a pair not to be trifled with.
Jayson Tatum wears '8:46' facemask in memory of George Floyd's killing https://t.co/h0Pi3m1EUd
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 5, 2020
That the St. Louis native outranks his fellow Dukie Zion begs a little context; “If we were ranking prospects, Zion would definitely be second or third, but for a guy who struggles to play more than 15 minutes per game, it’s difficult to place him as the third best player in this loaded group,” explains the Playgrounder’s Zach Wilson.
A fair assessment, even if the minutes limit the Pels have placed on Zion isn’t exactly his fault. And the case can be made that even with Williamson’s prodigious talent, there’s a lot of justifiable concern about his future health as a prospect as well.
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Tatum in second place trailing only Luka Doncic is generous if you had only watched him play against the Miami Heat — and not high enough for the player who came to ball against the Portland Trail Blazers.
We’ll get a better idea which version is closer to the actual player in the Disney restart this week, but his “fantastic shot creation ability and,” according to Wilson, “near an All-Defense level” play on the other side of the ball makes a case on his behalf that the range is right, even if it is one or two slots off.
Boston's Jaylen Brown continues to push NBAers to use their platform https://t.co/RGz5NUYkiL
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 7, 2020
Brown at 11 — just behind Memphis Grizzlies rookie floor general Ja Morant and just ahead of Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young — feels right.
“A blossoming 3-level scorer who plays defense and took grad classes at Cal as a freshman…need I say more or should I just show you his Christmas Day highlights?” asks the Playgrounder’s Matt Esposito.
Wilson concurs; “People need to stop acting like he’s multiple levels below Tatum, he’s only one floor down.”
We don’t disagree at the Celtics Wire.
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