Boston Celtics Giving Jayson Tatum Freedom in Summer League

Jayson Tatum is enjoying his freedom in the summer league

One of the main criticisms of top prospects wanting to join a team as good as the Boston Celtics is playing time. Number three overall picks are expected to be starting right away, but it is a different story when he is taken by a team expend to reach the conference finals or further.

We saw it with Jaylen Brown last year. His minutes were inconsistent, and he never got a chance to really showcase everything he wanted to do in the regular season.

Instead, Stevens would give Brown particular and small roles, limiting what he may be able to show off from his skill set. That being said, it allowed Brown to work more on specific things, and those things allowed him to be a better fit into the team.

The same is going to happen to Tatum. He may not be a primary scorer and he is going to have to deal with inconsistent minutes. He is going to have a largely undefined role, and he is not going to have the freedom to make all kinds of mistakes without having his minutes suffer.

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The Celtics realize this, and it is becoming more and more evident in their approach with him in the summer league. Even with an established player like Brown next to him, this has been Tatum’s summer league squad.

Tatum has been the number one option, he is instigating the most and the Celtics are letting him find the spots he likes the most. The Celtics are using the summer league to get a more broad view of what Tatum may have that can be used in the regular season, without having the risk of his mistakes and a potential rookie wall costing games.

So far, Tatum has excelled with almost everything he is doing. He has been a prolific scorer and is averaging a double double. He has been all over the court and is showing off that athleticism that many thought was lacking.

Most importantly, Tatum is showing off the polished offensive arsenal that made him such a great prospect.

The one criticism for Tatum so far could be the shot selection. There are many times where he is forcing things, and has a tendency to take difficult contested shots out of the post. The good news, however, is that Tatum is putting himself into these difficult positions, taking difficult shots, and hitting them.

Tatum is quickly proving to the Celtics that he can handle being the main option on an offense, and that could be a big difference maker for the second unit.

Brown is yet to look as comfortable as a ball handler and an offensive instigator, there is a good chance that Marcus Smart will be going to the starting unit, leaving Terry Rozier as the only real ball handler for the second unit.

With the way Tatum is able to create offense to find his spots, his summer league showcase is putting him in a great position to get to play with the ball in his hands on that second unit as a trusted shot creater and maker.

By giving Tatum all of this freedom the Celtics are learning what Tatum can do without as much help form his teammates. In the regular season the Celtics will never leave Tatum alone the way they have in the summer league.

The offense will always function to help Tatum, and make sure that he is not the only one responsible for creating. That being said, if his summer league play can translate at all to the next level, Stevens is going to have another incredible option at creating, and that is looking like the biggest need for the second unit if Smart is lost to the first unit.

Tatum will still need to prove that he is a willing passer. It is impossible to handle the ball for the Celtics in any capacity without being a solid passer. Tatum has already showed off a go to fade away post shot. If he can find a way to instigate ball movement out of that post, he can take a page out of Al Horford‘s offensive impact.

Tatum is showing that team’s will have to respect him in the post. The Celtics had some of their best offense with players cutting and Horford passing out of the post. The problem was that Horford was the only player they could use to instigate offense out of the post. Getting that from Tatum will transform the second unit offense similarly to how Horford transformed the first offense last season.

The Celtics have given Tatum the keys to the summer league team and he is quickly making the disgruntled fans forget about Markelle Fultz. After taking down both him and Lonzo Ball with stellar performances in the summer league, Ainge’s decision to trade the pick is quickly being validated, at least as much as it can be based off summer league play.

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At the very least, Tatum has already done enough to earn some opportunities as the primary offensive option on the second unit. Last season, Brown never reached that level. Tatum will be behind Brown on the defensive end, but if the two of them continue to progress properly, they will be a deadly two way punch for any second unit to deal with.

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