Boston Celtics player No. 3) Jayson Tatum
Since being drafted third overall back in 2017, Jayson Tatum has gone on to establish himself as one of the premier scorers in the league and has nabbed two All-Star selections and an All-NBA spot because of his excellence in the scoring department.
Now, while these accomplishments are obviously nice, especially for a young player such as Tatum, this should not be viewed as the end of the road in terms of his progressions and development.
Instead, this is simply a mid-point in every player’s chase for all-time greatness, with plenty more levels still to go.
Though many believe the next level up for the 23-year-old is still open for debate — MVP candidate, guide the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals, etc. –, no matter what it is Ime Udoka believes that, in order for him to take that step forward, Tatum is going to have to improve as a playmaker.
This is something we’ve been preaching for quite some time now and is a major aspect of his game that could thrust him into the MVP conversation.
Fans have already seen glimpses of how good of a distributor Tatum can be, particularly under the bright lights of the postseason where he boasted averages of 5.8 assists per game during the final two rounds of the C’s 2020 run and 4.6 during their most recent one.
This past regular season we saw the budding superstar average a career-high in this department with 4.3 dimes dropped a game. This year, considering Udoka’s desire to see him more active as a playmaker, we could yet again see him set new highs.
Boston Celtics player No. 4) Marcus Smart
Perhaps the most realistic player to come away from the 2021-22 season leading this Boston Celtics team in assists is Marcus Smart, as he has done so in each of the last two years and is likely the frontrunner to lead the charge at the starting point guard position coming into the upcoming campaign.
Last season, while predominantly sharing backcourt duties with Kemba Walker, the veteran guard still went on to take the top spot in assists by dishing out 5.7 a night.
Now with the former All-Star in New York, Smart is the lone returning starter from last year’s guard rotation which, when he held this sort of role earlier in 2020-21, he thrived as Boston’s primary floor general.
During the first month of the year, Smart served predominantly as the team’s starting point guard and, with these duties, found himself averaging over six assists per game.
With how enamored Ime Udoka seems to be with the 27-year-old, don’t be surprised if we wind up seeing the guard take on this same role for a full season.