can Tatum get even better?

[cman88]

so, obviously the answer is yes because he's only 26 and generally players hit their prime in 27-28. we've already seen him improve the last 2 years in being a passer and rebounder. And I have a feeling now that he's won 1 that pressure is going to be off his back and he will play alot more loose and with more confidence.

but I think the biggest thing to me I would like Tatum to get his jumpshot back and his 3pt shot. Not sure what happened to it. but apparently tatum was 30% on jumpers this post-season. that makes no sense.

I was watching clips from 2020 and tatum was nailing those step back 3pt shots and jumpers. obviously he was much smaller back then though. so could it be the added size? injury to his wrist?

 

[Roy H.]

I think his three point shooting in the regular season this year.  I don't think he'll get back over 40% on his current volume.

His 3PT shot has been lousy the past two postseasons.  I'm not sure why that is.  A relatively small sample size, more intense defense, fatigue, mental tightness...?

[hodgy03038]

1. Less complaining to officials. It helps nothing.

2. Maybe better shot selection. We all know what he is doing when dribbling outside the 3 point line what shot he will be taking. Mix it up.

[Kernewek]

I think it's a difficult question.

It's difficult because Tatum doesn't really have any obvious weaknesses in his game to shore up. He doesn't have Jaylen's left hand to overcome, for example.

At the same time, he's also not one of those players who fundamentally warps the way basketball is played when he's on the court - think Curry, James, Giannis, Jokic &c. - and those are the sort of players who tend to occupy that 'next tier' of player in normal discussion. It's hard for me to envision a world where Tatum's game gets to that level and we don't go 82-0, to be honest.

[hpantazo]

I think we witnessed peak Jaylen Brown this season. We haven?t seen peak Tatum yet.

[michigan adam]

I'd like to see a meld of Regular season Tatum and post season Tatum.  Tatum is capable of 30ppg, 10rpg, 6 apg, 50% fg%, 40% 3pt%, 90% ft% with borderline all defensive 2nd team without increasing his number of touches significantly.  .  I'd like to see that higher percentage shooting and increased assists with a touch more consistent effort on the boards and on D.  He is 95% of the way there.  He just needs a touch more confidence/assertiveness and effort.  Officials should continue to give him more of the benefit of the doubt as time goes on and he is consistently a top 5 player.  I'm convinced he had a nagging injury of some sort to his wrist/shoulder that contributed to his shooting slump in the playoffs to add to the consistent double teams.

[Surferdad]

My guess is he has had a nagging wrist/hand injury for quite some time, perhaps most of the season. I have seen him flex it a few times.

[Redz]

He absolutely can.  He is a hard worker.

[Who]

For sure. His scoring efficiency can get a lot better. His passing is improving all the time. There is more to come.

[LilRip]

Tatum is about to enter his prime in a couple of years. I doubt we?ll see any leaps but yes, Tatum is still getting better. He will be better next year, which is why I like our chances of repeating

[kraidstar]

He choked a ton of shots this postseason. Otherwise he was putting up league MVP numbers.

[Phantom255x]

Tatum could easily be a 30+ PPG scorer consistently if he could improve his shooting a bit. I know he may be dealing with a wrist/hand injury, so he might need to do something to treat that. But even throughout the postseason with teams doubling/tripling him, Tatum made a lot of good decisions and assists but he also just had poor shooting nights (ex. 6-22, etc.). Improve that a little and that's an easy 5-6 more points a night.

There's no reason Tatum can't become a two-way 28-30 PPG triple double threat in the league (maybe along the lines of 30/8/6+). He's that good and still only 26.

I do agree with a few others that I think Jaylen has mostly peaked. Which is fine, he's still an awesome player and a legit Top-15 player in the NBA if you also factor in defense.

[BudweiserCeltic]

For sure. His scoring efficiency can get a lot better. His passing is improving all the time. There is more to come.

This, he needs to clean up his drives a bit and better shot selection for sure. The rest is spot on. He needs to learn to use his height more.

[Vermont Green]

I think Tatum can get better, consistent, but I don't see any huge leap.

I know that many fans do not see this as an issue, but Tatum has been playing out of position for the last 2 seasons.  He is a wing, not a big.  If he could play only as a wing, and not be forced to make up for the lack of a true PF on the team, that alone would allow him to improve.

I am also curious to see how much the monkey that is now off his back will impact him.  I think it is clear that he thinks about it (losing in the finals in 2022, losing in the ECF in 2023) and hears all the chatter about it.  He is not as good as some players at simply blocking all that out.  Now he has nothing to block out.  He can just play.

[aefgogreen]

I don't think his numbers will change much, but we may need him more as a big in a small-ball lineup.  This would be a new (or improved) skill set for him.