Getty Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics and Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks.
On August 30, Tim Bontemps conducted a survey among 15 coaches, scouts, and executives about various NBA topics. Among those NBA topics regarded who would be the best player in the league in five years. While Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dallas Mavericks‘ superstar Luka Doncic received more votes among the 15 who participated in the survey, Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum received two himself.
An Eastern Conference scout who voted for Tatum explained that the reason why was because of his abilities as a two-way player.
“Just because of the defensive component,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “Luka is a stud, and you don’t need to be a defensive lockdown guy to be an All-NBA player like he is, but having Tatum’s self-creation ability, his physical tools, and his ability to give you defensive versatility, that’s pretty special.”
The scout further explained why Tatum has the ideal archetype for the modern NBA.
“Luka did a hell of a job carrying that team this year, but the two-way wing creator/scorer is the ultimate archetype, and Tatum is that at 24 years old and just got that team to the Finals. I just like his ability to give you something defensively that Luka likely never will be able to.”
Tatum has already experienced plenty of playoff success at 24 years old, as he not only made his first NBA Finals appearance but has also made three appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals in his five-year career.
Executive Believes Celtics Will Acquire Kevin Durant
Another question that was asked in Bontemps’ survey was, “Which team will Kevin Durant be on the day after the trade deadline?” While 13 of the 15 voted that Durant would remain with the Brooklyn Nets, a Western Conference executive voted that Durant would be traded to the Celtics.
The executive explained that he believes the Nets will have to move him, and the Celtics have the best asset to offer in a deal.
“Jaylen Brown is the best player they can get, and I think they’ll have to move him eventually,” the executive told Bontemps.
By contrast, a Western Conference scout used Brown to explain to Bontemps why a potential Durant trade would never happen, period.
“A lot of teams are like, ‘We aren’t getting what we want,’ but they’ll eventually settle,” the scout told Bontemps. “If you’re not settling for [Celtics forward] Jaylen Brown, you’re not trading the guy. I think they’re doing this, and you’re hearing all this because they want people to know unless you blow our doors off, we’re just not doing it.”
Durant rescinded his trade request on August 23.
Tatum Admits He Was Miserable After the Finals
In an interview with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report on August 21, Tatum got candid about how it felt to lose in the 2022 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors.
“Those three or four days afterward, I was miserable,” Tatum said. “It took some time to kind of get out of that funk and kind of enjoy my life and being around my son and my family.”
Tatum also said, despite his relaxed persona giving off the impression that he doesn’t care, this game means so much to him, which was why it was so hard to get past losing in the NBA Finals.
“It’s just tough. Sometimes I feel like sometimes I come off so laid back that I don’t know if people don’t understand how much I invest into this game. How much I care how hard I work because I’m not like the loudest or may show everything. But it was just so tough because I literally gave everything that I had. To feel like I ran out, that I didn’t have anything left to give, and we were so close. I didn’t have an appetite. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was just in my house for three or four days straight.”
“I was miserable”
Jayson Tatum opens up on the aftermath of losing the NBA Finals during live interview with Taylor Rooks in B/R app
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