Paul Pierce Praises Jayson Tatum
Paul Pierce had some incredible things to say about Boston Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum
The Boston Celtics have a lot of reasons to be excited about Jayson Tatum, and everyone in the organization is fully bought into what he can offer.
Tatum recently spent some time with Paul Pierce, and he may have given him the biggest compliment yet. There were some comparisons between the two players initially, particularly on the offensive end.
The Celtics saw a similar sort of offensive arsenal in him, and Pierce may actually be seeing even more. Pierce came out and said:
"When I’m watching him, he looks like a mature version of my game, like sixth, seventh, eighth year. He sees the defense. He knows what’s going to happen before it happens. He understands his position, footwork, his step-back (jumper) is there. His offensive repertoire seems complete. The sky is the limit for that kid"
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Pierce sees the kind of maturity in Tatum that should make him even more than an NBA ready rookie, and the defense is certainly what stands out.
To add a little context, Pierce was a truly exceptional player by his sixth year. Pierce consistently scored more than 20 points per game, including over 26 in his eight season. Pierce sees something in Tatum that is as good as Pierce after his first three all star appearances.
If Tatum manages to be as good as Pierce is talking about here, he should be a lock for the rookie of the year. The problem is that he will never get the kind of role that allowed Pierce to excel like that.
Even if the talent is there, it will take time before Tatum establishes the kind of trust that will give him the playing time that is needed to produce the way Pierce did in his sixth, seventh and eight season.
Even if it will not reach those heights, everything is pointing to Tatum being an NBA ready rookie, and if Pierce is right about that defense his role will continue to get bigger and bigger.
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There is a lot of excitement around the Celtics after this offseason, but if Tatum brings the two way impact at the same level Pierce did in those seasons, then the Celtics will be much closer to getting that next banner.