The Boston Celtics have equipped themselves with talent to contend in the present and very likely in the future, as the likes of Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum flourished last season, coming a game shy of the NBA Finals without two of their best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
Celtics legend Paul Pierce thinks we've yet to scrape the ceiling of Tatum's talent, and we might not see it for a while because of all the talent in place on the roster, according to Brian Robb of The Boston Sports Journal.
“I don’t think we are truly going to see Jayson Tatum’s talent anytime soon,” Pierce said.
At 6-foot-8 and 205 pounds, Tatum represents the modern, prototypical small forward — long, athletic, and gifted with a shooting touch that can make him a star in this league.
In his rookie season, the former Blue Devil connected on 43.4 percent of his shots from deep while shooting a formidable 47.5 percent from the field and a crisp 82.6 percent from the foul line. It would be a matter of extra minutes and opportunities to take his 13.9 scoring average from the regular season and transform it into 18.5 points per game in the playoffs, showing glimpses of his potential as a top-20 scorer in this league.
Some have suggested Tatum has the skill set to become a 25-plus-point scorer, but that dream is unlikely to come true with Irving (and others) in the lineup unless the two can form that unprecedented connection that can see them average that individually.
The layers have barely been peeled when it comes to Tatum, who can still add some more muscle and a slightly better shot selection to take the next step in his rise to superstardom.
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