Kemba Walker has been voted an NBA All-Star. Will Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown (or neither, or both) join him?
Will the Boston Celtics have multiple All-Star representatives this season?
Dan Devine of The Ringer, a media member who voted for starters, believes the Celtics have two such deserving players.
He voted for guard Kemba Walker as a starter and wrote that forward Jayson Tatum deserves to be a reserve. Devine went back and forth between Tatum and Brown and ultimately decided on the 21-year-old.
Devine had Walker as a no-brainer starter:
“If you require explanations for Giannis (Antetokounmpo), LeBron (James), Luka (Doncic), (James) Harden, AD (Anthony Davis), or Kemba, stop reading this, go to the emergency room immediately, and please have a doctor check out that head wound.”
Walker has averaged 22.3 points, five assists and four rebounds per game while shooting above 38% on almost nine 3-pointers per game. His net rating of 8.1 and true shooting percentage of 58.8 are the best of his career.
Walker has helped revitalize the Celtics, who enter Wednesday with a 31-15 record and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, just 1.5 games out of second.
Devine voted Walker and Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons as starters at the guard positions. Walker and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young were announced as starters by the league.
Reserves will be announced Thursday, and Devine believes coaches should vote Tatum in as a wild card spot, slightly ahead of Brown.
“They’ve been one of the best wing tandems in the league this season. Their statistical cases are remarkably similar, with Brown boasting better shooting numbers, especially inside the arc, and Tatum shouldering a larger offensive load, especially in reserve-heavy lineups without Walker.”
That offensive load Tatum carries, particularly when Walker sits, got him the edge over Brown.
Tatum’s net rating of 11.1 is the highest on the team among players who have appeared in more than 12 games. It’s almost twice as high as Brown’s at 6.0.
Even with poorer shooting numbers, Devine sees Tatum as a better scorer. He also likes Tatum more as a passer and playmaker, and on defense has improved — his defensive rating of 101.8 well eclipses Brown’s, which is 106.5.
Devine also notes that Tatum has the fifth-best real plus-minus in the league.
This stat can be misleading on its own — No. 6 is Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder and No. 7 is Milwaukee Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom are fine players not stars by any means — but when used as just a piece of the equation, it can be useful. The four players with better real plus-minuses than Tatum are starters in the All-Star game.
Entering Wednesday, Tatum and Brown’s raw numbers were extremely close: Tatum had the marginal edge in points (21.5 to 20.1), rebounds (6.9 to 6.6) and assists (2.9 to 2.4) in almost the exact same number of minutes per game (34 to 33.7).
Tatum’s usage rate of 26.9 is slightly higher than Brown’s of 24.1.
But Brown’s percentages are noticeably better. He’s shooting 55.5% from inside the arc, 39% from out and has a true shooting percentage of 59.9.
Tatum is shooting 47.4% from inside, 36.6% from out and has a true shooting percentage of 54.1.
Devine thinks Tatum should be in the game. He listed Brown as one of the “toughest cuts.” Now, it’s up to the coaches.
But whether neither, one or both of the young players make it, Tatum and Brown have put together strong seasons and continue to give Celtics fans a future to be excited about.
