While many of us are only just seeing the full extent of Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum’s capabilities in his third season in the NBA, his Team USA alumni already had an inkling this summer.
One of four such FIBA World Cup 2019 participants to also get an All-Star nod (the other three being Celtics teammate Kemba Walker along with the Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton and Utah Jazz’ Donovan Mitchell), the Duke product made an impression on his summertime teammates despite their eventual seventh-place finish.
Even with such a dismal backdrop to display his growing capabilities, Tatum shone enough to elicit some fairly high praise six months after returning from China for World Cup play.
One such Team USA alumnus is the Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Harris. The sharpshooting wing practically gushed about Tatum’s impact on Team USA.
Among the things I heard in Chicago: Boston’s Jayson Tatum was Team USA’s best player last summer? @TheAthleticNBA https://t.co/KS4yqUQDGN
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) February 17, 2020
“I thought Jayson was probably the best player on our team this summer,” offered Harris (courtesy of The Athletic’s Joe Vardon).
“Obviously there were a lot of talented guys there. Unfortunately he got hurt halfway through our trip, but he was leading us in a lot of different areas. It wasn’t this huge statistical thing, I think it was more the presence that he had. What I saw, what he brought every day to practice.”
“It was one of those things where he is super young, but he didn’t act like it, he didn’t play like it, and I could’ve told you this summer that he’d have a pretty good chance to be here today as an All-Star,” added the Virginia product.
While the Missouri native only scored six points in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, his team won — a marked improvement over the summer’s comparative flop. Still, it’s hard not to imagine how things might have gone differently considering Tatum only played two tournament games for Team USA after spraining an ankle.
The two he missed were the losses resulting in the poor showing.
Averaging 22.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season on 38.2 % shooting from beyond the arc and 44.3 % overall, it’s safe to say the young wing has arrived among the NBA’s elite players.
But at 21 years old, the St. Louis native still has room to grow — and will need it if the top of the league’s Eastern Conference continues to bulk up after a decade or longer as the punching bag of Western teams in the postseason.
Based on what we’re seeing so far, though, it looks like the former Blue Devil still has a long way to go before he reaches his peak.
And that’s got to be making opposing general managers nervous.
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