Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum ranked second best player in NBA under 25

Ever since the Boston Celtics went about and selected Jayson Tatum third overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, fans and media alike knew that the franchise landed someone special.

From his heroic rookie campaign that brought the Cs to within just one win from nabbing their first Finals berth since 2010 to his unbelievable 2020-21 season where he finished off as a top-10 scorer in the league with averages of 26.4 points per night, the wing has proven time and time again that he’s truly one of the best building blocks in the game today.

Though across the league’s landscape there are a plethora of promising young talents that find themselves inching their way towards stardom, Tatum is one of the very few who find themselves sticking out amongst the crowd.

In fact, there are some who believe that the 2x All-Star should be considered the best young player in the association, and perhaps an MVP caliber 2021-22 season could help solidify such this status for him.

Others, however, are under the impression that there are stronger cases for others to take on the moniker of best young player, and the folks at Bleacher Report believe Luka Doncic to be the top talent under the age of 25 in the NBA.

While Boston Celtics fans may wish to combat the decision to have the Dallas Mavericks star surpass Tatum on such a list, slotted in at number two writer, Grant Hughes, still had nothing but glowing words to say about the budding superstar:

"Tatum is the only player on this list (the man at No. 1 excluded) with an All-NBA nod, and he’s also distinguished by his role in a remarkably consistent high level of team success. The Boston Celtics forward is laps ahead of the sub-25 field with 50 career playoff games, and it’s not like Tatum was a bit player in any of them. A starter in every game of his career—regular season and playoffs—Tatum owns career postseason averages of 21.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He’s reached the conference finals twice, and 2021 was the first season his Celtics failed to advance past the first round.Tatum basically entered the league ready to compete at the highest level. Maybe that’s why it feels like he’s not on the same kind of upward trajectory as some of the other players on this list. It’s telling when a 22-year-old averages 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists on a 45.9/38.6/86.8 shooting split, and it feels unsurprising.With ideal positional size and length, Tatum is perhaps the most complete player on this list. His teams consistently perform better on both ends with him in the game, he’s a high-usage scoring threat who doesn’t sacrifice efficiency and he’s a weapon on D—whether on or off the ball."

Becoming a much more well-rounded player than many had previously thought, over the past two seasons the Boston Celtics star has posted stellar stat sheet stuffing averages of 24.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and just shy of a block per game on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep.

Perhaps what’s the most exciting part about JT is that, despite having so much postseason experience already and having achieved such great success on the hardwood, he’s still only 23-years-old and, in turn, has yet to even reach his peak.

Though Jayson Tatum may be listed at No. 2 on this list discussing the top players under the age of 25, the gap between him and the No. 1 Doncic is not all that wide and, in time, perhaps he’ll even wind up surpassing him at some point down the road.