While much of the fallout after the Jaylen Brown trade has focused on what it means for the 76ers, there’s now a lot at stake for the Celtics. A lot of those stakes are tied to Brad Stevens and the front office after deciding to move on from the 2024 Finals MVP for a return that most considered underwhelming.
Another element of the aftermath is that all eyes in Boston are now squarely focused on Jayson Tatum. He’s now clearly the only star on the Celtics. It’s his team, and the credit or blame is going to fall on him one way or another.
As far as we know, JT didn’t ask for this or have anything to do with the trade. There has been plenty of speculation about his relationship with Brown, and while they may not have been the best of friends, there’s no real evidence that they wanted to end the partnership on the court. But end it did. A big part of the fanbase is still upset about it. A large portion of the media still seems confused about it. And the pressure is on Tatum to steady the ship.
Lowe & Goldsberry: Tatum facing as much pressure as almost anyone
On the most recent episode of the Zach Lowe Show, he and Kirk Goldsberry ranked the top 10 players facing the most pressure this season, and both had Tatum in the top six. In Boston, it’s championship-or-bust every season, and Tatum is now over a full year removed from tearing his Achilles.
After a second straight disappointing playoff loss, Stevens split up his superstar duo and chose the one who is fresh off the Achilles tear over the one who just finished sixth in MVP voting. I completely understand the decision, and I think most reasonable Celtics fans do as well, but those are still the optics.
If season goes poorly, Tatum will be the scapegoat
If Tatum doesn’t look fully healthy, or the Celtics struggle to start the season, the criticism is going to come quickly. The fact is, just last year, Boston had a very similar, and probably slightly worse, supporting cast around Jaylen Brown, and he led that team to 56 wins. Now, Tatum has basically slotted into Brown’s spot while they added Mitchell Robinson and the young players have a year of experience under their belts. Anything less this season will be seen as a failure by some and an indictment on Tatum.
Now again, this is where reasonable people would point out that the Eastern Conference is much better and that there won’t be nearly as many easy wins due to tanking, but nuance and context are hard to find in sports debates these days, especially when someone is trying to push a narrative or get a take off.
I believe unequivocally that the Celtics made the right decision, and I think there’s a much better chance that the team wins 60+ games and Tatum is in MVP talks than things go off the rails. But until he proves himself (again…) the pressure is going to keep mounting and Jayson will have a giant target on his back all season long, and likely for the rest of this era. The pressure is palpable. I’m confident he can handle it.
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