Would 15 pound of mass be a plus or detriment to Tarum game?

[Tr1boy]

He tries to "thread the needle" a little too much trying to finish around the basket vs powering the ball in through contact when required

Obviously one reaaon has to do with his skinny frame.

If he adds 15 pounds of mass...would that take away from his quickness? Or already average explosiveness?

Or hopefully the opposite effects would occur

Anyone remember slim players that added mass , also adding explosiveness to their games?

[Snakehead]

He will put on more than that and it will make him better.  Muscle on a frame as slight as his doesn't slow you down.  Strength will improve his driving and ability to post and things.

[CFAN38]

Tatum will naturally gain as he gets into his 20s. At the predraft he was only 204lbs. I suspect he is already heavier than that. I suspect in his prime his ideal playing weight will be around 225-230lbs. The league is full of skinny underdeveloped players who gain 15-25 lbs from their predraft weights till they hit their primes. A good example is to compare rookie photos to current photos of players like Hayward, Anthony Davis, and Durant.  Jaylen Brown was 223 and a good sized wing at the draft and was reported to be up to 237 this off-season. I suspect a similar gain from Tatum this off-season. This would put Tatum around 220lbs not to mention the rumors that he has grown is in 6'9 rather then his listed 6'8.

Tatum's weight/strength gain is going to be very important to the Cs future. It will hold the key to the Cs being able to defend while playing the impressive offensive of Irving,Brown,Hayward, Tatum and Horford next season.     

[footey]

His build is very similar to Lebron’s at that age. He will naturally fill out.

[Evantime34]

I actually think adding mass will make Tatum more explosive.

I believe adding lean muscle mass makes you more explosive. With a young skinny guy like Tatum, his frame is more likely to fill out with lean muscle rather than adding bad weight that ways him down he will be adding functional weight that improve his ability to jump and handle bumps in the air.

He has missed layups this year because people have gotten physical with him at the rim. In a year or two he won't have the problem.

[mctyson]

I think 10-15 would be fine, but no more.  He has strength already.

[Vermont Green]

He is 19 years old, of course he is going to "thicken" as he matures.  I don't expect it to hurt him a bit and in fact will help him.

What I am still trying to understand with Tatum is what potential he has as a PF.  As he stands right now, I see a natural SF who can get by and play some minutes at PF.  Positional stats on 82games support this.

But with all this talk about him still growing to 6'-9" or 6'-10", that could lead to more potential as a PF.  I happen to believe that he will have more overall impact as a wing (SF) than as a big (PF).  These days it is not unusual to have very successful SFs who play at 6'-10" or 6'-11" (Paul George, Kevin Durant).  It is possible though that if Tatum does grow and/or bulk up, he could get to the point where it impacted his ability to play SF but I think that is very unlikely.

The "problem" is that Tatum plays the same natural position as Hayward so I can see the advantage in having Tatum play regularly at PF but I am not sure that is really the best thing.

[coffee425]

He tries to "thread the needle" a little too much trying to finish around the basket vs powering the ball in through contact when required

Obviously one reaaon has to do with his skinny frame.

If he adds 15 pounds of mass...would that take away from his quickness? Or already average explosiveness?

Or hopefully the opposite effects would occur

Anyone remember slim players that added mass , also adding explosiveness to their games?

Rudy Gay got way more "explosive". Dwight Howard out of high school looked like Tatum now.
In the end though, its not how explosive you gain from extra weight.. it's how you gain extra weight to be explosive through a crowd. Core and Lower Body weight is all that matters

[jambr380]

If Tatum does gain weight, I just want it to be good weight and not just adding extra pounds for the sake of doing so. I am not of the belief that people ‘thicken’ up as they get older just because they get older. Typically people get fatter and think that they are getting ‘huge.’ This should not be a problem for Tatum, though, as he has access to the best trainers and nutritionists in the world. He is also an extremely hard worker.

He is very effective at his current weight, but a few pounds of muscle in the right areas can’t hurt. Not everybody needs to look like Lebron (and almost nobody can).

[Tr1boy]

If Tatum does gain weight, I just want it to be good weight and not just adding extra pounds for the sake of doing so. I am not of the belief that people ‘thicken’ up as they get older just because they get older. Typically people get fatter and think that they are getting ‘huge.’ This should not be a problem for Tatum, though, as he has access to the best trainers and nutritionists in the world. He is also an extremely hard worker.

He is very effective at his current weight, but a few pounds of muscle in the right areas can’t hurt. Not everybody needs to look like Lebron (and almost nobody can).

So like a Tayshuan Prince?

He seemed like he barely added mass...but he is a good example of a player that needed to stay thin to remain effective