Tatum mvp type season?

[td450]

I haven't been super keen on all the MVP talk for Tatum, up to now I just didn't think he was really there.

But I have to say, I don't think anyone else is playing better overall than him.  The game against the mavs was a great showcase for his two-way play.  If he keeps up the 30+ ppg and the def and playmaking, and the celtics finish as the best or close to the best team in the NBA, he has a legit shot at it.

If we continue this type of play, I could see Tatum as MVP and Brown as 3rd team all-nba.

I would say that all NBA at guard for this year will come from:

From last year's winners:
Doncic
Booker
Morant
Curry
Probably out:
Young
Paul

Probably in:
Brown
SGA


Its crowded at the top. Doncic, Booker, Curry, Morant and SGA are all having monster years. Jaylen started off the year one step behind any of them offensively, but to be fair, that gap has largely disappeared in the 2-3 weeks and he's the best defender by a large margin. If Brown and the C's continue to play at this level, he may end up on the 1st team with Doncic.

[keevsnick]

Tatum on offense this year has been incredible, but as good as he's been I think you can make the argument he's still only ben the leagues like 6th best offensive player.

Steph, Jokic, Luka (crayz volume), AD, Durant all arguably have better offensive seasons right now. Even guys like SGA or Mitchell have put up similar numbers/efficiency. Tatum's MVP argument will be based off four key points:

1) He's close enough to those guys offensively.
2) He never misses games and plays a ton of minutes (Value in volume)
3) He's better defensively then the pure offense options like Steph, Luka, Jokic (Ie, two way guy)
4) His team win's 60+ games.

Celtics fans should take eveyr opportunity possible to hammer these points home.

[Ed Monix]

Most points scored through 26 games in Celtics history:

1. Jayson Tatum - 763 pts
2. John Havlicek - 757 pts

Tatum did it in 25 games

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Source: Boston Sports Info

[gouki88]

He absolutely is the lead MVP candidate for me thus far this season. He's right about where Durant was when he won his MVP on offence (less efficient and slightly less dynamic) but better defensively and at rebounding.

He's also the #1 player on the best offence of all time (thus far), which is on pace for 66 wins if it keeps this current rate up. The SRS of this Celtics team is currently at 9.2 last I checked, which is essentially a metric to measure the strength of a team, which would have us in the top 15 of all time.

None of this diminishes Brown's play, who I think is playing in All-NBA form right now, but Tatum would win MVP if the season ended today.

[Ed Monix]

Jayson Tatum is averaging more points and on better TS% than Larry Bird in any of his 3 MVP seasons.



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Source: StatMuse

[Big333223]

It's a pretty incredible season for individual performances early on. Giannis is averaging 32-11-5, Luka 33-9-9, Curry 30-6-7, Embiid 32-10-5, Durant 30-7-5, Jokic is averaging 24-10-9 on 65 eFG%.

And Tatum is on top of the MVP ladder with 31-8-4 for the best team in the league.

I'm sure some of this will settle down by the end of the long season but the top of the league is pretty incredible this season. 

[W8ting2McHale]

Jayson Tatum is averaging more points and on better TS% than Larry Bird in any of his 3 MVP seasons.



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Source: StatMuse

Someone was chirping early on (Possibly here, but probably on CelticsBlog) that Tatum’s offense wasn’t good enough for an MVP. That he still had trouble getting to the rim and couldn’t finish with his left hand.

The main claim was that since he was not able to score with his left hand, he would always get stopped because defenders knew they only had to defend one side of the rim.

Ironically this was posted the day after Tatum had a nifty left hand finish in the previous night’s game. Someone was kind enough to post a highlight video of that shot in the game comments. I linked that in case they didn’t watch the game.

It seems that ever since that game I notice Tatum scoring with a nice left hand move at least once. Some are subtle but others are highlight moves. 

If the criteria for being a versatile scorer and MVP candidate is being able to score with either hand, Tatum has ticked that box.

[footey]

I haven't been super keen on all the MVP talk for Tatum, up to now I just didn't think he was really there.

But I have to say, I don't think anyone else is playing better overall than him.  The game against the mavs was a great showcase for his two-way play.  If he keeps up the 30+ ppg and the def and playmaking, and the celtics finish as the best or close to the best team in the NBA, he has a legit shot at it.

If we continue this type of play, I could see Tatum as MVP and Brown as 3rd team all-nba.

I would say that all NBA at guard for this year will come from:

From last year's winners:
Doncic
Booker
Morant
Curry
Probably out:
Young
Paul

Probably in:
Brown
SGA


Its crowded at the top. Doncic, Booker, Curry, Morant and SGA are all having monster years. Jaylen started off the year one step behind any of them offensively, but to be fair, that gap has largely disappeared in the 2-3 weeks and he's the best defender by a large margin. If Brown and the C's continue to play at this level, he may end up on the 1st team with Doncic.

Brown has started most games this season as small forward, with D White and Smart the starting guards. Does that have any bearing on what position he is eligible to be selected at for NBA team?

[Kernewek]

It's a pretty incredible season for individual performances early on. Giannis is averaging 32-11-5, Luka 33-9-9, Curry 30-6-7, Embiid 32-10-5, Durant 30-7-5, Jokic is averaging 24-10-9 on 65 eFG%.

And Tatum is on top of the MVP ladder with 31-8-4 for the best team in the league.

I'm sure some of this will settle down by the end of the long season but the top of the league is pretty incredible this season.

Yeah I think we’re going to see some guys fall down to earth as the season progresses, but it’s quite a year as far individual performances go.

[LaBran Jaymes]

He showed up in the most important game of the season far 

[Roy H.]

I don't love some of the hype.  "MVP season", "best offense in NBA history", etc.  I think they guys could read that stuff, and it might make them a little less hungry.  The ability to keep the foot on the gas and to win 65+ games is a skill, just like performing in the playoffs is.

All that said...  Tatum absolutely is having an MVP season, and last night's game is part of that resume.  I wish it didn't take that type of individual effort to beat the Lakers, but Tatum stepped up big time, and once again showed Lebron that he's not afraid.

[Moranis]

It's a pretty incredible season for individual performances early on. Giannis is averaging 32-11-5, Luka 33-9-9, Curry 30-6-7, Embiid 32-10-5, Durant 30-7-5, Jokic is averaging 24-10-9 on 65 eFG%.

And Tatum is on top of the MVP ladder with 31-8-4 for the best team in the league.

I'm sure some of this will settle down by the end of the long season but the top of the league is pretty incredible this season.

Yeah I think we’re going to see some guys fall down to earth as the season progresses, but it’s quite a year as far individual performances go.

I don't.  Those numbers are all basically in line with what those guys did last year and in some cases many prior years.  Tatum is the only guy that has been bumped up a bit, but that also seems like a natural progression (and it isn't that much different than last year, he is just shooting a bit better and getting to the line more). 

[Ed Monix]

High pressure, yet still poetry in motion.

[blink]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35253462/nba-mvp-straw-poll-luka-giannis-tatum-100-league-insiders-make-their-picks

good publicity!

[Ed Monix]

Most points scored though 40 games in Celtics history:

1. Jayson Tatum - 1,170 pts
2. John Havlicek- 1,164 pts

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Source: Boston Sports Info