ESPN's Jeff Goodman: Jayson Tatum is fit for Celtics

ESPN's Jeff Goodman: Jayson Tatum is fit for Celtics

WEEI

Ty Anderson - June 18, 2017 - 7:18 pm

The Celtics have all but officially traded to the No. 1 overall pick to the 76ers in exchange for the No. 3 overall pick and a future first-round pick.

For a team that's done almost everything possible to acquire the top overall pick, that seems like utter lunacy. But this was not that draft for the Celtics.

"This really wasn’t the best draft to get the No. 1 overall pick because there wasn’t a clear cut guy," ESPN's Jeff Goodman told WEEI's Bradford & Giardi on Sunday when asked of the trade that is expected to go through on Monday. "But you knew somebody was going to love Markelle Fultz."

In Philadelphia for a workout on Saturday, Fultz likely remains the class of the draft class, but the margin by which he's considered the best remains razor-thin.

"I’ve seen these kids play more than anybody and i can’t say with any conviction that Fultz is gonna be a better NBA player than whether it’s Josh Jackson, Jayson Tatum, or Lonzo Ball," Goodman continued of the 2017 draft class. "To me, you can throw almost these four in a hat. I would take Markelle Fultz at No. 1. I think he will be the best pro of the four, but I’m not sure of it any means, and neither was Danny Ainge and neither are a ton of NBA guys."

With Fultz expected to go to the Sixers, and with Goodman believing that Ball remains bound for the Lakers (he said that Magic Johnson sees too much of himself in Ball to walk away from him), the Celtics would seemingly land one of Jackson or Tatum, the two best small forwards of this class. And of that group, Goodman believes that Tatum would be the better fit for the C's.

"My concern a little bit, is if you take Josh Jackson you duplicate a little bit of what Jaylen Brown does," Goodman said. "He’s a skilled passer, he’s a better defending, not quite as athletic. Tatum to me fits the need for them. I would take Jayson Tatum. Jayson Tatum is a Paul Pierce type player. Not as athletic, but he can score the ball. He’s 6-foot-8, he’s got an unbelievable step-back jumper."

On a Duke team loaded with veterans, Tatum, who has a 6-foot-11 wingspan, still managed to put up a strong season, with 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest in 29 games for the Blue Devils.

"Tatum’s also a guy that can handle himself," Goodman concluded. "I get he’s not the most athletic dude in the world, but to have him as another scorer could really, really help the Celtics."

112288

112288 wrote:
ESPN's Jeff Goodman: Jayson Tatum is fit for Celtics

WEEI

Ty Anderson - June 18, 2017 - 7:18 pm

The Celtics have all but officially traded to the No. 1 overall pick to the 76ers in exchange for the No. 3 overall pick and a future first-round pick.

For a team that's done almost everything possible to acquire the top overall pick, that seems like utter lunacy. But this was not that draft for the Celtics.

"This really wasn’t the best draft to get the No. 1 overall pick because there wasn’t a clear cut guy," ESPN's Jeff Goodman told WEEI's Bradford & Giardi on Sunday when asked of the trade that is expected to go through on Monday. "But you knew somebody was going to love Markelle Fultz."

In Philadelphia for a workout on Saturday, Fultz likely remains the class of the draft class, but the margin by which he's considered the best remains razor-thin.

"I’ve seen these kids play more than anybody and i can’t say with any conviction that Fultz is gonna be a better NBA player than whether it’s Josh Jackson, Jayson Tatum, or Lonzo Ball," Goodman continued of the 2017 draft class. "To me, you can throw almost these four in a hat. I would take Markelle Fultz at No. 1. I think he will be the best pro of the four, but I’m not sure of it any means, and neither was Danny Ainge and neither are a ton of NBA guys."

With Fultz expected to go to the Sixers, and with Goodman believing that Ball remains bound for the Lakers (he said that Magic Johnson sees too much of himself in Ball to walk away from him), the Celtics would seemingly land one of Jackson or Tatum, the two best small forwards of this class. And of that group, Goodman believes that Tatum would be the better fit for the C's.

"My concern a little bit, is if you take Josh Jackson you duplicate a little bit of what Jaylen Brown does," Goodman said. "He’s a skilled passer, he’s a better defending, not quite as athletic. Tatum to me fits the need for them. I would take Jayson Tatum. Jayson Tatum is a Paul Pierce type player. Not as athletic, but he can score the ball. He’s 6-foot-8, he’s got an unbelievable step-back jumper."

On a Duke team loaded with veterans, Tatum, who has a 6-foot-11 wingspan, still managed to put up a strong season, with 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest in 29 games for the Blue Devils.

"Tatum’s also a guy that can handle himself," Goodman concluded. "I get he’s not the most athletic dude in the world, but to have him as another scorer could really, really help the Celtics."

112288

Exactly.

Except for the non-athletic part, which makes me laugh.  Just watch some of his play.

Then again, they said the same thing about Pierce, who Tatum is often compared to.  I think that worked out OK.

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.

NYCelt wrote:

112288 wrote:
ESPN's Jeff Goodman: Jayson Tatum is fit for Celtics

WEEI

Ty Anderson - June 18, 2017 - 7:18 pm

The Celtics have all but officially traded to the No. 1 overall pick to the 76ers in exchange for the No. 3 overall pick and a future first-round pick.

For a team that's done almost everything possible to acquire the top overall pick, that seems like utter lunacy. But this was not that draft for the Celtics.

"This really wasn’t the best draft to get the No. 1 overall pick because there wasn’t a clear cut guy," ESPN's Jeff Goodman told WEEI's Bradford & Giardi on Sunday when asked of the trade that is expected to go through on Monday. "But you knew somebody was going to love Markelle Fultz."

In Philadelphia for a workout on Saturday, Fultz likely remains the class of the draft class, but the margin by which he's considered the best remains razor-thin.

"I’ve seen these kids play more than anybody and i can’t say with any conviction that Fultz is gonna be a better NBA player than whether it’s Josh Jackson, Jayson Tatum, or Lonzo Ball," Goodman continued of the 2017 draft class. "To me, you can throw almost these four in a hat. I would take Markelle Fultz at No. 1. I think he will be the best pro of the four, but I’m not sure of it any means, and neither was Danny Ainge and neither are a ton of NBA guys."

With Fultz expected to go to the Sixers, and with Goodman believing that Ball remains bound for the Lakers (he said that Magic Johnson sees too much of himself in Ball to walk away from him), the Celtics would seemingly land one of Jackson or Tatum, the two best small forwards of this class. And of that group, Goodman believes that Tatum would be the better fit for the C's.

"My concern a little bit, is if you take Josh Jackson you duplicate a little bit of what Jaylen Brown does," Goodman said. "He’s a skilled passer, he’s a better defending, not quite as athletic. Tatum to me fits the need for them. I would take Jayson Tatum. Jayson Tatum is a Paul Pierce type player. Not as athletic, but he can score the ball. He’s 6-foot-8, he’s got an unbelievable step-back jumper."

On a Duke team loaded with veterans, Tatum, who has a 6-foot-11 wingspan, still managed to put up a strong season, with 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest in 29 games for the Blue Devils.

"Tatum’s also a guy that can handle himself," Goodman concluded. "I get he’s not the most athletic dude in the world, but to have him as another scorer could really, really help the Celtics."

112288

Exactly.

Except for the non-athletic part, which makes me laugh.  Just watch some of his play.

Then again, they said the same thing about Pierce, who Tatum is often compared to.  I think that worked out OK.

Deano do you regret we passed on your boy Fultz?

does anyone else think that with all the talk of getting both George (PF) and Hayward (SF)...that Danny sees Tatum as a PF in the mold of Paul George?

Cow -

I didn't want Fultz more; Tatum was the guy I was raving about and wishing for.

Check what I had "bolded" and said in that earlier post.

I just expected we were going to take Fultz, and was OK with that too.  That deal was good for both teams.

I'm super happy with the pick.  I see a lineup not too far down the road where Tatum provides the added shooting and scoring punch we need, and Brown comes in to provide D while getting himself to the rim at the other end.  Could be a sensational rotation of young wings.

Regards

Jaylen is now 6'8", 237". Watch OUT!

KDP,

What an interesting thought about Ainge possibly going with Tatum as a power forward. Ainge must be really thinking that the league is going to continue to go smaller if he did, indeed, draft Tatum as power forward.

In fact, drafting Tatum as a small forward never really made sense with Crowder and Brown already on the them in the first place. Could be that Ainge is trying to get ahead of the entire league?

Of course, there has been zero talk about any other big man other than Griffin since the season ended.

This could be a very interesting to follow. I wonder if we will see Tatum at the power forward in the summer league games?

worcester wrote:Jaylen is now 6'8", 237". Watch OUT!

Worcester,

Source, please.


bob

.

Bob,

Must be a typo because Brown was no where near 220 at the end of the season so adding 17+ more 'good' pounds this quickly is unlikely.

If he can get to 227 by late October, that will be a good amount of strength and weight for such a young guy to grow in an off season.   Any more weight beyond that may slow him down as well.

wideclyde wrote:Bob,

Must be a typo because Brown was no where near 220 at the end of the season so adding 17+ more 'good' pounds this quickly is unlikely.

If he can get to 227 by late October, that will be a good amount of strength and weight for such a young guy to grow in an off season.   Any more weight beyond that may slow him down as well.

Clyde,

Tatum himself said at his series of interviews in Boston post-draft that he is 206#.  He looks it too.  2" taller than RJ Hunter and only 10# heavier, so you can just imagine he is a bag of bones.  If he gets to 227# by late-October, that means adding 21# in 3 months, that would be very unhealthy.


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

wideclyde wrote:Bob,

Must be a typo because Brown was no where near 220 at the end of the season so adding 17+ more 'good' pounds this quickly is unlikely.

If he can get to 227 by late October, that will be a good amount of strength and weight for such a young guy to grow in an off season.   Any more weight beyond that may slow him down as well.

Clyde,

Tatum himself said at his series of interviews in Boston post-draft that he is 206#.  He looks it too.  2" taller than RJ Hunter and only 10# heavier, so you can just imagine he is a bag of bones.  If he gets to 227# by late-October, that means adding 21# in 3 months, that would be very unhealthy.


bob


.

All,

My mistake.  It clearly says JAYLEN but my brain registered JAYSON because this is the Jayson Tatum thread.  Oops.


bob

.

bobheckler wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

wideclyde wrote:Bob,

Must be a typo because Brown was no where near 220 at the end of the season so adding 17+ more 'good' pounds this quickly is unlikely.

If he can get to 227 by late October, that will be a good amount of strength and weight for such a young guy to grow in an off season.   Any more weight beyond that may slow him down as well.

Clyde,

Tatum himself said at his series of interviews in Boston post-draft that he is 206#.  He looks it too.  2" taller than RJ Hunter and only 10# heavier, so you can just imagine he is a bag of bones.  If he gets to 227# by late-October, that means adding 21# in 3 months, that would be very unhealthy.


bob


.

All,

My mistake.  It clearly says JAYLEN but my brain registered JAYSON because this is the Jayson Tatum thread.  Oops.


bob

.

Bob,

Happens to all of us.

Go get an Anchor Steam. You'll feel better.

Regards

wideclyde wrote:Bob,

Must be a typo because Brown was no where near 220 at the end of the season so adding 17+ more 'good' pounds this quickly is unlikely.

If he can get to 227 by late October, that will be a good amount of strength and weight for such a young guy to grow in an off season.   Any more weight beyond that may slow him down as well.

Jaylen weighed 223lbs at the Combine a year ago.