Boston Celtics: Pros and cons to offering Jayson Tatum max extension
By Josh Wilson
The Boston Celtics have a decision to make with Jayson Tatum.
The Boston Celtics have a massive financial decision to make this summer regarding Jayson Tatum. Due for a rookie-scale contract extension, it seems likely the Cs will offer Tatum a max contract.
To most, it’s not much of a debate. Tatum has had an incredible season with a huge jump across the board in both his counting and advanced stats.
Boston will secure a young and budding, nay, exploding star in Tatum if they agree to an extension with him.
Big decisions call for a step back and a measured look at things, though. The Celtics can’t stop at, “he had a great season, let’s offer the max.”
The organization will need to weigh the pros and the cons of offering such a hefty commitment to yet another young player in order to keep the proper amount of resources available to build for the future.
Keep in mind, the Celtics just agreed to a four-year, $115 million extension to Jaylen Brown last summer.
For what it’s worth, I believe the team should offer him the extension, but not before first considering these pros and cons.
Celtics pro to extending Jayson Tatum: Foundation building.
Virtually every team in the league would give a resounding “yes” if asked if they would like to add Tatum to their squad.
The Cs are advantaged with the opportunity to give him a market-friendly extension that no other team can yet offer Tatum to keep him in Beantown for years to come.
Tatum has shown all the signs this year that he is a foundational piece of not just the Celtics, but also the league’s marketable star core. He proved it all season long, but especially when point guard Kemba Walker was out with injury, showing he’s got the skill and mental fortitude to hang with the veterans.
For five consecutive games in February without Walker, Tatum averaged 34.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game on 50.9 percent shooting from the field (50.0 percent from beyond the arc).
Tatum still has some room to develop parts of his offensive game, particularly his efficiency at the rim. That will come with time.
On the defensive end, Tatum has stepped up in a big way and shown he has the chops to smother the fiercest offensive opponents.
Already, he’s one of the better two-way players in the NBA, and he’s in the midst of just his third season.
The Celtics already have other pieces of their core on the books for years to come. Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker are under contract through 2022, Jaylen Brown through 2024.
Tatum will become a free agent in the summer of 2021 along with a very attractive class that includes Giannis Anteokounmpo, Anthony Davis, and Victor Oladipo if Boston doesn’t agree on an extension with him.
While the rest of the league scrambles to bid for star players to retool for a playoff push, Boston can sit back and laugh as their core continues to gel and build chemistry if they secure Tatum.