Jayson Tatum’s willingness to play as the 2nd option behind Jaylen Brown

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I think last night was a real strong development for the Celtics Keith.

In that, Jalen Brown came out strong, put the team on his back early, went to the line,

aggressive, early, 10 free throws in the first quarter, 21 in the game.

He finished strong for the Celtics.

So it's not just that he outscored Jason Tatum last night,

scoring 41 to Tatum's 2021, whatever he had.

It's that when they needed him late, he scored 18.

When they needed him to start, he carried him early and he closed it for him.

And I feel like watching at least for a night,

Tatum seemed content to play second fiddle,

which I've been skeptical about.

I've been skeptical that Tatum would be comfortable doing it.

And he was doing his clapping on the wing like I saw him do plenty of that.

I'm open, but he was also posted up on the wing.

He wasn't coming to the basketball.

He wasn't demanding the basketball.

He wasn't really even getting that many touches late in the game.

And if Tatum can put his ego aside and do it,

and a lot of people have told me he can, he will.

These two work together.

Didn't you see them win the title two years ago?

That's proof they work together, which I think is fair to say.

I also think it's fair to point out,

well, it worked when Tatum was one A and Jalen was one B or even one and two.

That works and they won.

And I'm not trading them.

I know that came up this morning.

I'm not trading them.

You're not trading.

But is Tatum going to be happy in a secondary role?

I think last night for anybody who believes Tatum will accept the secondary role last night

right now.

And it's only a couple of games.

That's your shining example because I didn't think it is for a few games back.

He was taken much of a back seat if any to Jalen Brown.

In fact, I think he had been pretty ball-dominant and shot-dominant prior to last night.

I'm pretty encouraged by the whole thing because it's been five games back for Tatum.

Missed the thunder game, but I think it's all part of the plan.

Obviously, we would have loved to have seen him play against OKC.

Didn't happen.

Still a really close loss and brown played well on that one.

He has, we've seen his minutes increase,

but then you see a game I guess today where this was an awesome performance by Jalen.

Brown, one of his better games of the season.

Being a team that's decent, I think they're the seven seed in the West.

They got another all-star over there and a team USA guy and Devon Booker.

And they're 10 games over 500 and that's not great, but they're not a bum team, I agree, yeah.

But no, this could be a pretty big advantage that they could have over everybody else in the East.

And honestly, maybe even beyond that.

Because if you start looking at number two scorers around the league,

this version of Tatum might order to be on par with anybody or with the chance to get even better.

He's averaging 20 points per game through five games.

I think it's going to increase town's average is 20 on the whole year right now.

And who's better?

Towns or this version of Tatum?

Tatum.

I agree.

Yeah, you and I maybe are more down on towns than most, but yeah, I would say Tatum.

OK, so Tatum, who's who's the two on Detroit?

Is it Durin?

Probably Durin.

I mean, that's I sort of see the, is he the second option on offense?

I don't know if he's truly the second option.

Let's call him the second best guy.

This version of Tatum or Durin?

This version of Tatum.

James Harden.

Yeah, this version of Tatum.

That kind of thing.

Yeah, so Durin is the team secondly and scored the pissence.

Their third leading score is Tobias Harris.

Jaylen, Jason Tatum three months ago was better than Tobias Harris.

Jason Tatum filming episode one of The Quiet Work was better than Tobias Harris.

Limping out of the hospital with the, I think, with a little stroller thing was,

he was better than Tobias Harris.

He could himself up his stairs was better than Tobias Harris.

Yeah, correct.

So no, I think that could be a big advantage.

And I think it's a unique spot where I do feel like Tatum will come back and understand

that Jaylen Brown's the one that's been pretty much dominating for 60 games.

And then Tatum comes back and he's already elevated

as the number two option on, you know, when they need to score,

he's already above Derek White.

That happened in short order.

He's above Peyton Pritchard.

And that slots both those, we made this point earlier.

That slots both those guys in even better.

Oh, wait, Pritchard Pritchard's off the bench in a six man role.

Yeah, I think he really belongs.

And Derek White is a third scoring option where some nights like last night,

he gets red hot.

What do you hit four out of five threes?

At one point in that game last night, he gets red hot.

But you don't need to rely on like all those other guys slot in.

Great. And I think that's really promising.

But I also think we could see it where even in the last few years,

or even in the title run year, it's Tatum's team.

But there might be a game where he doesn't have it as much.

And then a guy like Jaylen Brown can take over.

I mean, how Jaylen Brown was the finals MVP.

Yep.

So the same thing could play out where Jaylen Brown could go in.

And you're like, all right, it's going to kind of run through him.

And if he doesn't have it and Tatum does,

are you can kind of pass the ball over there, like literally pass the ball over there,

or like pass the baton, if you will.

And it can be his night.

I do wonder, and this will be they can cross this bridge when they get to it.

And Mizzula and all those guys can figure it out how next year starts.

And like, what all that's going to look like.

But I think for now, especially because Tatum has been along for the ride the whole time.

He's been sitting there.

He's watched Jaylen Brown.

First hand, have this MVP caliber season.

I think he isn't a spot where he's going to fit in.

Probably average between 20 and 25 at night.

Brown's going to average between 25 and 30 at night.

And I think that's kind of how they're going to go the rest of the year.

And you made this point earlier.

And I think it's a good one where he said he didn't come back to be a role player.

But he didn't.

I took that to mean.

And he said separately, the only thing worse I'm not walking at is not being Jason Tatum.

So I do think there's some evidence that he wants to be Jason Tatum again.

But he just said I'm not coming back to be a role player.

There is a big gap in between being a role player and being the number one guy over Jaylen Brown.

Like both those things can be true.

You didn't come back to be a role player.

But you are okay operating in the shadows, which is, which is too strong.

You know, but operating behind as a second option, not a secondary option,

but the second option to Jaylen Brown.

There is a big gap there.

Now I personally hadn't felt until last night.

Maybe you disagree with this Keith.

I hadn't felt until last night.

He really had sacrificed at all in the games where Jaylen was out there.

Now he took 18 shots to Jaylen's 20.

But I feel like down the stretch.

He really was a secondary option to Jaylen.

Jaylen hit him when they were down free on like a breakout layup.

But despite the shot volume, I felt like last night he actually did take a backseat.

Other than that, I mean, the spurs game he couldn't.

Jaylen got thrown out.

He shot 24 in that one.

He shot 16 and 27 minutes, 16 and 27 minutes his first two games.

Then that spurs game, then 19 and 32 minutes against Washington.

I didn't feel like he had been taking any backseat until last night.

So I really do think.

And it wasn't OK.

See, it wasn't San Antonio is a good, not great team.

But I really thought last night, if you want to point to something where Tatum will

operate in brown shadow and the team could still play at a high level and still go on a run.

I think last night is the game you point to.

And I wasn't sure Tatum could do it.

I can credit for doing it last night.

Now the question is how consistently will he do it?

Or was it just so obvious last night that Jaylen had it going that he said, all right, it's

night. Part of it.

But when we come back on the court in a couple of days, it's going to be my night again.

But I look at if you want to break down each game that they have played together,

since his return.

So they played Dallas at home, Cooper flag game, and slow start for everybody.

The Dallas is kind of in the game for a little bit.

Cooper flag, you know, in close, Jason Tatum misses a dunk and like,

didn't really have his legs underneath them.

And then he did and then they kind of blew him out.

And that was a bad Dallas team that ended up kind of blown him out.

The Cleveland game.

Oh, and also I should say, and Jaylen Brown was the leading score.

Then against Cleveland, same thing like they play really well as the team.

Tatum looks even better, I would say overall.

Not a shock, right?

But he started that game super hot.

And he hit it kind of a dagger three late in that Cleveland.

And they won by double digits and Jaylen Brown also the leading score.

Then against San Antonio, it kind of looked like it was a Jaylen Brown game.

Jaylen Brown was playing pretty well.

Yeah, then gets ejected from the game.

So we don't really know how that one was going to go.

Oklahoma City Tatum doesn't play Washington, more of the worst teams in the history of the league.

I think some of this too is just getting Tatum some shots and getting Tatum

kind of back in the swing of things.

So it might just be as much of a like extended rehab,

especially against the team like Washington than anything else.

And then last night better competition than certainly Washington or Dallas.

And it's like a full on Jaylen Brown game.

And so I feel like and also I think worth mentioning it's the first time

they've won a game where it's been close late and forever.

They lost the close one to the Thunder.

Yep.

The Spurs game was kind of close.

They made a little run at it or like 90 seconds to go.

Tatum hit a three to cut it to five with like 90 to go.

But they've won a lot of blowout games.

And this one was a little bit closer and you could kind of see like what that closing line

up might look like and who's going to be kind of running the show.

And I think it doesn't mean it's going to play out this way every game.

Obviously, Jaylen Brown's second score 41 every single night.

But I thought that was a good step in the right direction for sure.

So text line says, with all due respect.

And I love your guys show.

Yeah, okay.

I love your guys show.

That's a compliment, right?

Yeah, I would say so.

You guys are making too much out of this.

There's going to be nights where Tatum is going to score 30.

There's going to be nights where Brown is going to score 30.

What's wrong with that?

Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

And I think I think they're we're not saying trade Jaylen Brown.

That was the morning show that said he's going to be at an all-time high in value

and Chisholm is going to want to scale back payroll.

So we're not saying trade him.

But I'm also not saying it's they'll just figure it out.

And they're automatically going to figure it out.

I got to see it.

And last night, I am giving them credit.

I think last night was an example of them showing to me.

They can do it.

But Tatum's going to get a lot of shots, Keith, to your point.

He got 18 shots last night.

He's going to get his looks and his numbers and his points.

But there are times in the game where you're the secondary option.

You're not the first option.

If he's going to buy in on it being quote unquote Jaylen's team.

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So there are times where Jaylen had to go stand in the corner at the end of shot clocks,

at the end of quarters, at the end of games.

Go stand in the quarter because Tatum's going to go to work.

Or when you're running plays and sets, the first option is Tatum.

I mean, there is a pecking order with all of that.

There is.

And so is Tatum going to be okay with that?

I think that's a fair question.

That's not pitting the two against each other.

No, that's not saying they hate each other.

That's not even saying it won't work.

It's just, I have no idea if Tatum will buy into that.

He's never had to.

He's really never, he's never come off the bench in his life.

Yeah.

He came in and started right away.

Everybody around him got hurt right away.

So like Tatum's never really ever had to do that, ever.

And the question is, will he do it now on this team?

You mentioned earlier, Keith.

They've already won a title with Jalen kind of carrying Tatum.

Yeah.

I'm putting words in your mouth.

Exactly.

No, Tatum was, I thought Tatum was good.

But Jalen was the better player.

He was conference finals MVP and NBA finals MVP.

Yeah.

If he wins again, let's say they win again as a lead dog.

Just play fantasy and Brown wins it.

Or you're saying Tatum wins it.

No, just like Jalen's the best player.

Oh, how do we look at Tatum?

If Jalen won finals MVP and Eastern Conference MVP.

Yeah.

And then this year, maybe he wins it again.

He's the best player clearly.

So probably wins it again.

How do we look at Tatum?

Probably a little bit like Curry early on with the Warriors.

Because that's a good one.

That's a great curry.

Curry didn't win those finals MVP's.

Didn't win the first three.

That he did win.

He beat the Celtics and ripped their guts out.

Yeah, that was devastating.

They should have won that series.

But yeah, like he was still looked at as like an all-time great.

But it was one thing that was alluding him.

You know, Andre Agudala won the first one to rant one the next two.

And so you're like, at that point, he had three titles.

But he wasn't the finals MVP.

And he was clearly the best player, but he wasn't the final.

Yeah, so that's a good one.

It might be similar, right?

Where like even all these guys in the NBA,

there's always some sort of slight that they have, right?

They either have one fewer MVP than they think they should have.

They always have one less all NBA than they think they should have.

Finals MVP, all that different stuff.

So I think he'll still be viewed as a better overall player.

And I think that might be hard for like the Jalen Brown defenders.

They're gonna be like, how could you say that if he has back-to-back

finals MVP's?

But Tatum was first team all NBA four consecutive years.

Brown is probably maybe, maybe I'm gonna make it this year.

I think last night goes a long way, although it's not a slam dunk.

I'm just looking at it again.

I don't think he's a lock because like you would think Yokech, SGA,

Wembee, Cade, Cunningham, and him.

But like Luca don't just leads the league and scoring.

And like, I don't know, Luca's first team all NBA would be crazy

if Luca made it over Jalen.

No, no, thanks.

I don't think so either.

617, 777, 977, 937.

This is Jalen Brown.

After the game, I said this earlier, Keith, I don't think it's,

this is my favorite year.

I don't think it's taking to Twitter and posting the team stats this year versus

last year at the All-Star Break.

Yeah.

But this is, this is in the same realm.

It's a couple of, but it's in the same realm of Jalen Brown comments.

Here's Jalen talking about his season to this point.

How much fun are you having this season?

Seems like you're kind of having a blast out there and just having a good time

being yourself.

How much are you enjoying this moment?

It's been a great year.

I'm extremely grateful.

All praise to the Mosah, just the approach from the beginning of the summer

to where we're at now.

I'm proud of my team.

I'm proud of myself.

All it above, I've always felt like I could be one of the top players in the world,

given the opportunity.

And I feel like I got to display that this season.

So now the focus is just get ready for the playoffs.

It's kind of like my mentality now.

Stay healthy, but you know, I've had a great, had a great year.

I'm extremely grateful.

I'm grateful to my teammates.

And it's been fun.

Okay, it's been fun.

He's, he's like this year very much.

And he always knew he was capable of this.

Terp references with us all the time.

Like he always knew he was capable of it.

And now he's doing it.

I mean, in his mind, he's known he can do this.

And he's proving it, which you got to give him a favor season.

So again, that's taking it even step farther than this one last night.

Do you think they're at their best this year, Keith,

when it's quote unquote Jalen's team versus Tatum's team?

Yeah, right.

I mean, right now I would.

I mean, the sample size is still extremely tilted.

I mean, Jalen Brown's played 61 games to Tatum's five.

And so Brown is just in the middle of his best season he's ever had.

I would keep that going.

I do think Tatum's going to start to shoot

better. He's shooting like 40% from the field total.

Yeah, I mean, that's coming to go up.

I agree.

Maybe you should expect it.

But he's shooting across the board.

Like the least at least feel goal and threes.

He's shooting the worst was career.

No, but this is definitely Brown's season.

And I think that doesn't mean that you can't get massive contributions from Tatum.

And I keep just looking around the NBA and being like,

there's way less of the forget super teams.

But even the like dynamic duos for lack of a better term,

like there's less of those than the NBA than you would think.

Yeah.

It's kind of loaded with what like they might have already the best duo.

So we already did this.

But you'd take it over Cleveland's duo.

Yes, you'd take it over Detroit's duo.

Yes, you'd take it over.

Especially Cleveland's definitely in the playoffs.

Like on people exactly.

Well, I think that's pretty good.

No, I think that's over New York's.

Yeah, for sure.

I think you have to go to the West.

I think active.

I'm not talking about like resume wise.

You're like, well, Luke and LeBron.

But like, I'm not probably taking that one.

Yeah, no right right.

I think I might be the Celtics one over the Lakers.

Yeah, Yo-Kitch and Jamal Murray.

I think is a really good one.

Just because Yo-Kitch is so good.

Yo-Kitch is the best.

But Murray's having one of his best years.

Who's the two to SGA?

Who do you count as the two Hongren?

Jay-Joy Blades.

Probably Jay-Joy Blades, which one?

Right.

They're both so good.

You don't think he's that good though, where it's like it almost doesn't matter

where the second guy is.

Really good.

SGA is the best out of those three.

But then I might take the next two Celts guys.

Yeah.

And this is because I feel like Tatum is so far

past where I thought he'd be right now.

And I do expect him to get better.

And then if you're just looking at what everybody else is doing right now,

I'm sure Nick's fans would say, give me Brunson and Towns

and they just beat him last year.

That's a fair take.

But I would rather have Brown and Tatum.

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