Boston Celtics: Jabari Parker-Jayson Tatum connection legitimate

It’s always good to have players connect in any sort of way on–and almost sometimes preferably off–the hardwood. The Boston Celtics just added a significant connection with the free-agent addition of Jabari Parker.

Parker and the C’s best player, Jayson Tatum, have quite a few things intertwining their careers.

For starters, they both played collegiate hoops in front of thousands of Cameron Crazies under Coach K for Duke basketball.

Not only that, but the two formed a bond when Parker visited his old stomping grounds in his third year in the NBA…which coincided with Tatum’s one-and-done college career:

Parker joins the Cs with a chance to take over Gordon Hayward’s role from a season ago.

Yes, you read that right.

Obviously, Parker is nowhere near the talent Hayward is proving himself to be in Charlotte, where he is averaging 19.6 points on 47/41/84 shooting to go along with six boards and four assists per game.

But remember, Hayward wasn’t producing those numbers with the Boston Celtics. Asking for 17 points per game may be a stretch, but Parker is just a season removed from putting up 15 points per contest on the Atlanta Hawks.

Boston’s offensive schemes have gotten the most out of Tatum and fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown, who do plenty of damage in the mid-range. Parker, a fellow top #3 pick, was once compared to a young Paul Pierce and was projected to have the impact on the game that the Jays have had so far in their careers.

It may not be too late for Parker. The Boston Celtics fit could be beneficial for the former Chicago prodigy, and at the very least, there is a good synergy with the franchise star.

Let’s hope the fourth quarter Tatum-to-Parker post feed dime that was drawn up by Brad Stevens out of a timeout against the Warriors is a harbinger of many more buckets to come from the Duke Blue Devils duo.