Is Tatum/Brown/Smart a potential championship core?

[RodyTur10]

With the departure of Irving/Hayward/Horford in two years time, the Celtics have really gone into the new era.
Especially with Kemba having knee problems, it looks like we have to count on the guys who have basically already carried the Celtics to two Conference Finals (although Horford and Rozier had big contributions in 2018 as well).

The Celtics have a lot of young guys who need to be developed and could become valuable players, however I doubt any of Waters/Pritchard/Edwards/Langford/Nesmith/G.Williams/R.Williams has All Star potential. The core will be what it is now unless we make trades.

ESPN ranking has Tatum (11th), Brown (32nd) and Smart (37th), so according to them the Celtics are on the right track, but do you think they'll be good enough for their role?

[Csfan1984]

My belief is you probably need a core that has two guys in the top ten, or a MVP caliber player, or three guys in the top 10-25 range to have a championship level core. 

Tatum, Brown, and Smart aren't there. I feel Brown won't hit the top ten ever and Smart won't ever crack the top 30. So no they won't be the core to a championship this year. Even with Kemba you need Tatum playing like a MVP. Just don't see it this year.

What we saw from Kemba, Tatum, Brown and Smart in the bubble is probably the guys they will be 75% of  this season. There was pretty much already a offseason before the bubble and no time going into this season to really improve.

[PhoSita]

 Yes, I think the Celtics can have a top 5 defense and a top 5 offense with those three at the heart of the team, and I think Tatum can mature enough as a crunch time scorer to take over / win games when the Celts need him to. 

Tatum and Brown have already proven they are very solid #1 and #2 scoring options even in the playoffs.  Main thing to improve on is crunch time execution.

[Sophomore]

Depends on what happens around them. Last year’s bubble team almost cracked the Finals and I see no reason this year’s team can’t be better.

At this time of year I’m still looking for upside. Last year’s best rookie 3-point shooters were Herro and Johnson, both of whom converted 39% of five attempts per game. Would I take that from Nesmith off the bench or in mixed units? Yes I would!

Looking forward to seeing Tatum and Brown grow as distributors, and expecting to see both in the all-star game. Really hope to see Rob and Grant make the most of the opportunities they’re about to get!

[vjcsmoke]

Smart is a great glue guy.  But he's not the type of talent that powers a championship level top 3.  Think of Marcus Smart as an Andre Iguodala type.  He's absolutely a piece that you need on a championship contender for the toughness and the defense.  But he's not the part of the engine that you rely on to score the points you need to bring home hardware.

Tatum can be a top 2 player on a championship team.  I'm not sure Brown would be considered in that area, he might be a good 3rd star.  But we need one more Tatum level talent to fill out a "big 3".

I'm pretty worried about Kemba's knee.  Hopefully he will recover fully and be fine.  But without him it's hard to see the Celtics make it that far in the playoffs.

And there's still the question about how will the Celtics deal with the Laker's size in the postseason if they ever make it to the Finals.  They have nobody to match up with both Lebron and AD.  Meanwhile last season they got manhandled by Bam Adebayo.

Is Thompson enough of a defensive/rebounding presence to contain the likes of Bam Adebayo, Giannis, Davis, etc.?

[hpantazo]

It depends largely on the supporting cast.

For example, if Tristan Thompson becomes anywhere near the front court version of Smart as he says he wants to be, then definitely yes.

If Nesmith becomes anything like Herro then likely yes.

If Grant Williams develops a reliable 3 pt shot, then yes.

I can see the lineup of:

Smart
Brown
Tatum
G Williams
Thompson

as the best defense in the league, very dominant if they get it together. If Williams develops his shot, that lineup is really tough for anyone.

[PAOBoston]

Maybe if Smart has some sort of Kyle Lowry-like maturation. Otherwise not likely. Those three came be part of a championship core but they’ll need to add another all star type guy somehow (assuming Kemba will never be healthy).

[Muzzy66]

I'm in the "no one" camp.

I really do belive this core of Tatum, Brown and Smart is good enough to lead the Celtics to a title.  I don't necessarily believe they are good enough to do it this year or perhaps even next year, but if you factor in their upside then they definitely have the potential for it.

I mean, this team with that core is ALREADY a clear contender despite the fact that the team has a number of holes (thin bench, weak at the center spot, etc) and that Tatum/Brown are still very much learning seems (at least to me) to make it clear that with a couple of small roster improvements and development of those young guys the sky is the limit.

[slamtheking]

With the departure of Irving/Hayward/Horford in two years time, the Celtics have really gone into the new era.
Especially with Kemba having knee problems, it looks like we have to count on the guys who have basically already carried the Celtics to two Conference Finals (although Horford and Rozier had big contributions in 2018 as well).

The Celtics have a lot of young guys who need to be developed and could become valuable players, however I doubt any of Waters/Pritchard/Edwards/Langford/Nesmith/G.Williams/R.Williams has All Star potential. The core will be what it is now unless we make trades.

ESPN ranking has Tatum (11th), Brown (32nd) and Smart (37th), so according to them the Celtics are on the right track, but do you think they'll be good enough for their role?

regardless of ESPN's meaningless rankings, Kemba is the 3rd best player on the team.  Smart is fourth.  as such, I don't think they're at the top of the contender heap but definitely the next rung down --Unlikely to win it but they have a respectable chance.  When they had a healthy Hayward which made Smart the 5th best player, they were in the top tier of contenders

[#1P4P]

They have lead the team to 2 of the past 3 Eastern Conference Finals and all 3 have demonstrated marked improvement and their ages are 22, 24, and 26. Championship teams, whose core is acquired through the draft, have a development phase where experience is gained through being eliminated in the playoffs.

The way this core has performed (outperforming expectations aside from 2019) bodes well not just to be a Championship core, but a dynasty core. People might point to the East being weak, but in ‘18 and ‘20, this team defeated Giannis, Embiidx2/Simmons, Lowry, and took Lebron to 7 as freshman and sophmore (while Al never had a playoff win over a team with Lebron).

Aside from the core, the more I see Tristan’s strengths, I see why the Celtics’ brass has coveted him, he might be the final piece to the Championship puzzle.

[Muzzy66]

My belief is you probably need a core that has two guys in the top ten, or a MVP caliber player, or three guys in the top 10-25 range to have a championship level core. 

Miami just went to the NBA finals with Jimmy Butler as their only top 25 player, and and I'd say he is only just top 25 (in the 20-25 range) too.
 There is no way anybody else on that Miami team is top 25.   

I know they got crushed by the Lakers, but still...they got further then other East teams who had more on-paper talent (including Philly /Embiid, Milwaukee / Giannis and Boston / Tatum + Kemba). 
 
I think the crucial factor is less about star power and more about clutch power.  You need guys who have the mentality and skill to make the big plays (be it shots, passes, rebounds or stops) in the clutch.  You can be down by 5 or 7 in the last 3 minutes of a game and win - happens all the time.  Late game execution is everything.

Granted, often times the guys who make those big clutch plays happen to also be big stars - guys like Jordan, Curry, Kobe, Pierce, KG, etc - however that's not always the case.  There are a lot of big name star players out there who absolutely fall apart in the clutch (e.g. Embiid, Harden) which has a lot to do with why their teams seem to somehow always underperform come playoff time. 

Likewise when Lebron won his title against the Warriors you could argue that it was Kyrie's clutch shot making (rather then Lebron's all round greatness) that won them that series.

I think Miami was able to get as far as they did because they have guys like Butler (who is as clutch as they come), Bam (who was also pretty big in when it mattered) and Herro (who made massive shots at crucial times). 

Looking at this Celtics teams, I think we have quite a few guys on the roster who have that clutch gene.  Smart clearly has it on both ends of the court (he's made quite a few big clutch shots), Tatum has it (he took over at the end of games frequently during the run) and from memory Kemba also has some impressive clutch shooting stats for his career.  Guys like Tatum and Brown will make mistakes because they are young, but give them another year or two of experience and those mistakes will fade away - and that will change a lot.

[Ogaju]

My belief is you probably need a core that has two guys in the top ten, or a MVP caliber player, or three guys in the top 10-25 range to have a championship level core. 

Miami just went to the NBA finals with Jimmy Butler as their only top 25 player, and and I'd say he is only just top 25 (in the 20-25 range) too.
 There is no way anybody else on that Miami team is top 25.   

I know they got crushed by the Lakers, but still...they got further then other East teams who had more on-paper talent (including Philly /Embiid, Milwaukee / Giannis and Boston / Tatum + Kemba). 
 
I think the crucial factor is less about star power and more about clutch power.  You need guys who have the mentality and skill to make the big plays (be it shots, passes, rebounds or stops) in the clutch.  You can be down by 5 or 7 in the last 3 minutes of a game and win - happens all the time.  Late game execution is everything.

Granted, often times the guys who make those big clutch plays happen to also be big stars - guys like Jordan, Curry, Kobe, Pierce, KG, etc - however that's not always the case.  There are a lot of big name star players out there who absolutely fall apart in the clutch (e.g. Embiid, Harden) which has a lot to do with why their teams seem to somehow always underperform come playoff time. 

Likewise when Lebron won his title against the Warriors you could argue that it was Kyrie's clutch shot making (rather then Lebron's all round greatness) that won them that series.

I think Miami was able to get as far as they did because they have guys like Butler (who is as clutch as they come), Bam (who was also pretty big in when it mattered) and Herro (who made massive shots at crucial times). 

Looking at this Celtics teams, I think we have quite a few guys on the roster who have that clutch gene.  Smart clearly has it on both ends of the court (he's made quite a few big clutch shots), Tatum has it (he took over at the end of games frequently during the run) and from memory Kemba also has some impressive clutch shooting stats for his career.  Guys like Tatum and Brown will make mistakes because they are young, but give them another year or two of experience and those mistakes will fade away - and that will change a lot.

lol how clutch was Kyrie without LeBron? People seem to forget that it was LeBron's chase down block that allowed Kyrie a chance to score that winning basket. LeBron does not have to be clutch necause he dominates the game from the beginning to the end. His mere presence on a team allows scrubs to become clutch.

[RodyTur10]

Wow, until now not a single person has voted against Tatum as the nr 1 option on a championship team.
Great confidence in Tatum apparently. He has been great I acknowledge that, but the best players on the teams that won a championship the last few years have been LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis.

[Somebody]

My belief is you probably need a core that has two guys in the top ten, or a MVP caliber player, or three guys in the top 10-25 range to have a championship level core. 

Miami just went to the NBA finals with Jimmy Butler as their only top 25 player, and and I'd say he is only just top 25 (in the 20-25 range) too.
 There is no way anybody else on that Miami team is top 25.   

I know they got crushed by the Lakers, but still...they got further then other East teams who had more on-paper talent (including Philly /Embiid, Milwaukee / Giannis and Boston / Tatum + Kemba). 
 
I think the crucial factor is less about star power and more about clutch power.  You need guys who have the mentality and skill to make the big plays (be it shots, passes, rebounds or stops) in the clutch.  You can be down by 5 or 7 in the last 3 minutes of a game and win - happens all the time.  Late game execution is everything.

Granted, often times the guys who make those big clutch plays happen to also be big stars - guys like Jordan, Curry, Kobe, Pierce, KG, etc - however that's not always the case.  There are a lot of big name star players out there who absolutely fall apart in the clutch (e.g. Embiid, Harden) which has a lot to do with why their teams seem to somehow always underperform come playoff time. 

Likewise when Lebron won his title against the Warriors you could argue that it was Kyrie's clutch shot making (rather then Lebron's all round greatness) that won them that series.

I think Miami was able to get as far as they did because they have guys like Butler (who is as clutch as they come), Bam (who was also pretty big in when it mattered) and Herro (who made massive shots at crucial times). 

Looking at this Celtics teams, I think we have quite a few guys on the roster who have that clutch gene.  Smart clearly has it on both ends of the court (he's made quite a few big clutch shots), Tatum has it (he took over at the end of games frequently during the run) and from memory Kemba also has some impressive clutch shooting stats for his career.  Guys like Tatum and Brown will make mistakes because they are young, but give them another year or two of experience and those mistakes will fade away - and that will change a lot.

You're severely underrating Butler if you think he was a top 25 player at most last season - he has a great case for top 10.

[Somebody]

I think we need one more top 30ish player to round out our core assuming that Tatum doesn't leap to MVP level (think that's the likely outcome for him unless he bulks up and improves his passing and vision considerably). Luckily we already have that player, his name is Kemba Walker