Drama has surrounded the Boston Celtics as it pertains to Team USA at the Summer Olympics. Aside from Jaylen Brown being left off the USA Basketball roster in favor of Derrick White, all of the negative attention is now being cast on Jayson Tatum, who did not play in Team USA's 110-84 victory over Nikola Jokic and Serbia to begin their quest for a gold medal on Sunday.
When you have 12 of the greatest NBA players in the world on one team, not everyone is going to be able to play. Just ask Tyrese Haliburton, who has not played for Team USA since July 20 in an exhibition game against South Sudan, who is coincidentally the Americans' next opponent in Olympic pool play. Tatum is the latest player to see his minutes slashed by Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, but his immediate role change was directly influenced by Kevin Durant's return from a calf injury.
With Durant back in the mix, Tatum was the player who ended up having to sacrifice playing time, a situation that Kerr claims he regrets.
Steve Kerr vows for Jayson Tatum minutes
A 26-point victory over Serbia should be a moment for Team USA to celebrate. Unfortunately, Tatum being left out of the lineup and rotation all together has been the key talking point for the Americans in France.
Tatum, who sat on the bench cheering for and encouraging his All-Star teammates, didn't imagine that he would be the one having to sacrifice his role. Ultimately, Kerr decided to keep Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker in the rotation over Tatum against Serbia, which could've been a decision based on style of play and fit against the Europeans.
While reflecting on this decision, Kerr has made it clear that he made the wrong decision, citing that the Celtics star is going to see his minutes increase in their next game against South Sudan on Wednesday.
“Jayson will play,” Kerr said. “I'm not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn't. But we're going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”
After Sunday's game, Kerr cited that he “felt like an idiot” for not playing Tatum, who is widely considered to be one of the best forwards in the world after earning First Team All-NBA honors for the third year in a row.
The good news for Tatum and Celtics fans alike is that Kerr recognized his mistake. Moving forward, Boston's star player will be a featured member of Team USA's rotations. However, someone is going to have to see their minutes decrease as a result. In fact, there could be two superstars who see their roles with USA Basketball decrease in favor of Tatum.
Joel Embiid, Devin Booker in danger of Team USA role change?
If Tatum plays in the Olympics moving forward, other players will see their minutes decrease. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant aren't going to see their roles decrease, seeing as they are the featured names for Team USA. The same can be said about Jrue Holiday, given his influence as a lead guard and defender for this team. It is also safe to assume that Anthony Edwards will remain the first player off the bench for Team USA due to his natural scoring abilities as the young energizer for this veteran group.
That leaves Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, and Derrick White as the five other players to choose from regarding minutes being slashed in favor of Tatum.
The idea of Kerr limiting Booker, or taking him out of the rotation completely, certainly holds some weight right now. Booker scored in double figures just once during Team USA's tune-up games, yet he scored 12 points in 26 minutes against Serbia on Sunday. The Phoenix Suns star also had five assists and two steals while starting alongside Embiid, LeBron, Steph, and Holiday.
While it is possible that Booker will be the player on the wing to see his minutes decrease, it is much more likely that Kerr will need to rethink utilizing three different centers. Since their very first preparation game, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo have outperformed Embiid. This was even apparent in Team USA's first Olympics battle against Serbia, as Embiid was the only American with a negative plus-minus.
In just over 11 minutes, the 2022-23 NBA MVP made just two baskets on five attempts. His two rebounds, two turnovers, and three personal fouls resulted in Kerr gravitating towards Davis, who was +28 for the game with seven points, eight rebounds, and a steal off the bench. Adebayo also had a solid outing against the Serbians, with four points, two rebounds, two assists, and a strong defensive presence on the interior. He finished +9 for the game.
The fact of the matter is that Embiid has not lived up to the hype, and the Americans have played better with him off the floor. Could Kerr possibly scratch the MVP's minutes in order to get Tatum involved more? This is certainly a possibility at this point, as moving forward with three centers simply doesn't make sense, especially with Davis and Adebayo outplaying Embiid.
Kevin Durant shines for Team USA
One of the other main reasons why Embiid could be the one to see his minutes cut down in favor of Tatum is due to Durant's return to the floor. After sitting out all of Team USA's exhibition games before the Olympics, Durant returned to the floor on Sunday in dominant fashion.
Known for his big-time performances while having “USA” across his chest, Durant poured in 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-5 from three-point range. In just over eight first-half minutes, Durant scored 21 points.
The only reason that Durant wasn't starting against Serbia is because this was his first game back from injury. As the Americans play more games in the Olympics and move into the knockout rounds, Durant will undoubtedly regain his status as a starter alongside James and Curry. Holiday won't be moving out of the starting lineup, so that fifth and final starting spot could very much be up for grabs between Embiid, Tatum, Booker, and possibly even Davis, who has arguably been the best player for Team USA.
No matter what happens with Durant moving into the starting lineup or not, Tatum's minutes are going to increase. Kerr recognizes that he needs the Celtics star on the floor, which is why Embiid and Booker are the two most likely names to see their roles decline during the Olympics.
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