Who is our best player?

[GreenlyGreeny]

Before the season, many people said in order for this Celtics team to contend, one or both of Tatum/Brown would have to make an additional leap. Well, Brown has done it.

Yes, and Tatum has not. After tonight, seeing Tatum dish to JB with the game on the line because Tatum was afraid of missing another game-needed score against the Pistons, it’s clear that JB is the man. Maybe he can become the next Kawhi Leonard. Tonight, JB displaced Tatum as my favorite active player.

[knuckleballer]

Tatum played like an MVP candidate in the playoffs back in September? No. That never happened.  I don’t recall that.  https://youtu.be/C6ufImch00g

[18isGREATERthan72]

Brown.

And frankly it’s not really close.

He is a much better athlete. Now his skill set is catching up.

What on earth has given you the impression it’s not close?

Brown is also not that much better an athlete either.

Brown is scoring more, getting more assists, better defense, and has a positive 12 net rating
Tatum is rebounding more and is a negative net rating.
(will most likely change with tonights game)

Brown doesn't have a +12 net rating, he is -0.8 and Tatum is +4.5

I think the stats comparison isn't fair.. Tatum is largely facing double teams and traps, and Jaylen has been able to go one on one a lot of the time.

I think Brown has been excellent and I think he's probably the most consistent player on the team so far this year, but I still think Tatum has been put a lot more responsibility.

Either way, let's just all be happy this is an argument we can have that we're lucky enough to have both of them.

[Somebody]

Tatum played like an MVP candidate in the playoffs back in September? No. That never happened.  I don’t recall that.  https://youtu.be/C6ufImch00g

Yeah he didn't play like an MVP candidate in the playoffs. The hyperbole surrounding his playoff run lol

[gouki88]

Before the season, many people said in order for this Celtics team to contend, one or both of Tatum/Brown would have to make an additional leap. Well, Brown has done it.

Yes, and Tatum has not. After tonight, seeing Tatum dish to JB with the game on the line because Tatum was afraid of missing another game-needed score against the Pistons, it’s clear that JB is the man. Maybe he can become the next Kawhi Leonard. Tonight, JB displaced Tatum as my favorite active player.

Like when Tatum hit the game winner?

[Somebody]

Brown.

And frankly it’s not really close.

He is a much better athlete. Now his skill set is catching up.

What on earth has given you the impression it’s not close?

Brown is also not that much better an athlete either.

Brown is scoring more, getting more assists, better defense, and has a positive 12 net rating
Tatum is rebounding more and is a negative net rating.
(will most likely change with tonights game)

Brown doesn't have a +12 net rating, he is -0.8 and Tatum is +4.5

I think the stats comparison isn't fair.. Tatum is largely facing double teams and traps, and Jaylen has been able to go one on one a lot of the time.

I think Brown has been excellent and I think he's probably the most consistent player on the team so far this year, but I still think Tatum has been put a lot more responsibility.

Either way, let's just all be happy this is an argument we can have that we're lucky enough to have both of them.

I agree, but how much of that is by design? Jaylen-led lineups without Tatum have looked pretty good when he was tasked to run the PnR more and faced similar double teams and traps. I do think that Tatum is more polished than Brown rn at handling defensive pressure (eg. Jaylen can't do Tatum's pocket/bounce passes), but let's not forget how crap Tatum looked as recently as the beginning of last season when he assumed a larger offensive role.

I'm just hoping that Stevens gives Brown more opportunities to run the offence while giving him a longer leash to go through the growing pains that come from growing into an increased offensive load. Right now I feel that it's unclear how impactful is Jaylen's newfound scoring/playmaking boost, we need more data and film to analyse whether he's comparable to Tatum but I do feel that he's somewhat close.

[Jiri Welsch]

Brown.

And frankly it’s not really close.

He is a much better athlete. Now his skill set is catching up.

What on earth has given you the impression it’s not close?

Brown is also not that much better an athlete either.

Brown is scoring more, getting more assists, better defense, and has a positive 12 net rating
Tatum is rebounding more and is a negative net rating.
(will most likely change with tonights game)

Brown doesn't have a +12 net rating, he is -0.8 and Tatum is +4.5

I think the stats comparison isn't fair.. Tatum is largely facing double teams and traps, and Jaylen has been able to go one on one a lot of the time.

I think Brown has been excellent and I think he's probably the most consistent player on the team so far this year, but I still think Tatum has been put a lot more responsibility.

Either way, let's just all be happy this is an argument we can have that we're lucky enough to have both of them.

Also a simple Google search actually shows that Tatum (4.3) is getting more assists than Brown (3.1).

Tatum (7.9) also has more rebounds than Brown (4.6). Tatum hit the game winner and almost got a triple double tonight.

I don't really care for this Brown vs. Tatum conversation! It's a weird thing to dwell on rather than celebrating the fact that both play for our favorite team and seem like good people.

[Darth_Yoda]

Brown.

And frankly it’s not really close.

He is a much better athlete. Now his skill set is catching up.

What on earth has given you the impression it’s not close?

Brown is also not that much better an athlete either.

Brown is scoring more, getting more assists, better defense, and has a positive 12 net rating
Tatum is rebounding more and is a negative net rating.
(will most likely change with tonights game)

Brown doesn't have a +12 net rating, he is -0.8 and Tatum is +4.5

I think the stats comparison isn't fair.. Tatum is largely facing double teams and traps, and Jaylen has been able to go one on one a lot of the time.

I think Brown has been excellent and I think he's probably the most consistent player on the team so far this year, but I still think Tatum has been put a lot more responsibility.

Either way, let's just all be happy this is an argument we can have that we're lucky enough to have both of them.

Prior last nights game, according to basketball reference.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1=brownja02&p1yrfrom=2021&player_id2=tatumja01&p2yrfrom=2021

I do not like using the NBA.com ones as I find they are really messed up right now.

[Darth_Yoda]

Brown.

And frankly it’s not really close.

He is a much better athlete. Now his skill set is catching up.

What on earth has given you the impression it’s not close?

Brown is also not that much better an athlete either.

Brown is scoring more, getting more assists, better defense, and has a positive 12 net rating
Tatum is rebounding more and is a negative net rating.
(will most likely change with tonights game)

Brown doesn't have a +12 net rating, he is -0.8 and Tatum is +4.5

I think the stats comparison isn't fair.. Tatum is largely facing double teams and traps, and Jaylen has been able to go one on one a lot of the time.

I think Brown has been excellent and I think he's probably the most consistent player on the team so far this year, but I still think Tatum has been put a lot more responsibility.

Either way, let's just all be happy this is an argument we can have that we're lucky enough to have both of them.

Also a simple Google search actually shows that Tatum (4.3) is getting more assists than Brown (3.1).

Tatum (7.9) also has more rebounds than Brown (4.6). Tatum hit the game winner and almost got a triple double tonight.

I don't really care for this Brown vs. Tatum conversation! It's a weird thing to dwell on rather than celebrating the fact that both play for our favorite team and seem like good people.

Read the bolded part of my original post.

[GreenlyGreeny]

Before the season, many people said in order for this Celtics team to contend, one or both of Tatum/Brown would have to make an additional leap. Well, Brown has done it.

Yes, and Tatum has not. After tonight, seeing Tatum dish to JB with the game on the line because Tatum was afraid of missing another game-needed score against the Pistons, it’s clear that JB is the man. Maybe he can become the next Kawhi Leonard. Tonight, JB displaced Tatum as my favorite active player.

Like when Tatum hit the game winner?

There’s a huge difference between taking the shot when you’re down one, where if you miss your team will probably lose the game, and taking a potential game-winner where if you miss your team is probably headed to OT.

Tatum clearly did not want to miss when down one for the second game in a row against the Pistons. For whatever reason, rather than getting setup and taking the big shot himself, he instead passed it to JB, who killed it without hesitation and showed he should have been the man taking the final shot the game before.

JB is now the alpha.

[Jvalin]

Tatum is better in the half court. Brown is better in the open court. To put it another way, Tatum's style of play is better suited for the playoffs. Brown's style of play is better suited for the regular season. Playoff games are won in the half court. Always gimme the half court player over the open court player. Imo, Tatum > Brown.

Fwiw, Tatum recorded 12 assists and 0 t/o last night! Brown was super efficient, but he could never deliver 12 assists in 1 game, much less with 0 t/o. What Tatum does is way more difficult than what Brown does. Plenty of players can catch fire and score at will. Very few wing players can do what Tatum did last night.

[Roy H.]

Tatum is better in the half court. Brown is better in the open court. To put it another way, Tatum's style of play is better suited for the playoffs. Brown's style of play is better suited for the regular season. Playoff games are won in the half court. Always gimme the half court player over the open court player. Imo, Tatum > Brown.

Fwiw, Tatum recorded 12 assists and 0 t/o last night! Brown was super efficient, but he could never deliver 12 assists in 1 game, much less with 0 t/o. What Tatum does is way more difficult than what Brown does. Plenty of players can catch fire and score at will. Very few wing players can do what Tatum did last night.

Just observationally, JB has seemed pretty dominant in the half court so far.  What is it about his game that makes you think that he isn’t an excellent half court player?

[Moranis]

Tatum is BY FAR the most valuable player on the Celtics.  His on/off differential per 100 possessions is +17.2, while Brown's is -1.2 (Teague and Timelord have a better differential than Tatum, but they are no where near as important). This continues the trend from last year, that Boston just falls apart without Tatum on the floor and the team is just better when Brown is on the bench.  Obviously some of that is who is backing them up, but it also goes to some level at the actual importance of their roles to the team.  Tatum doesn't even to play well for Boston to just be better with him on the floor.  Boston needs Tatum.  Boston doesn't need Brown.  And it has been this way for awhile.  In fact, Tatum has basically led the the team every single season of his career, while Brown has been positive just 1 of his 5 seasons (his 2nd year when Tatum was a rookie).  And Brown has been negative in the playoffs as well the last 3 years, while Tatum has been positive every season.  And Tatum is the most valuable player because he is the best player.  The offense runs through him and falls apart when he isn't on the floor.  Boston is Tatum. 

[Birdman]

Tacko Fall..unleash the Beast!!!!

[A Future of Stevens]

Tatum has the "IT" factor where he impacts games just by being out there. He does impacts the team in such a positive way even when his scoring isn't there. It is hard to quantify without doing a deep dive on advanced stats (edit: Moranis nailed it.)

That isn't to say I don't love what Brown has been showing. His presence has kept us afloat to start the year. I think he will continue to get better along with Tatum. We are in a great spot, but Tatum is our best player.