Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown are future stars, plus 5 big-picture things we’ve learned from Boston Celtics’ season so far

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/01/jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-are-future-stars-plus-5-big-picture-things-weve-learned-from-boston-celtics-season-so-far.html



Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown are future stars, plus 5 big-picture things we’ve learned from Boston Celtics’ season so far




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Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)



By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com



The Boston Celtics are 31 games into their 82-game slate, and after Tuesday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets, they have a pristine record of 23-8 and the league’s second-best point differential at +8.9 per Cleaning the Glass.

So what have we learned about the surprisingly successful Celtics? Here are five big-picture takeaways from the first third of the season.


1. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have changed the team’s trajectory.

If the Celtics were to script a perfect start to the season, they probably would have written exactly what has happened with Tatum and Brown.

The former hasn’t been particularly efficient (21.3 points on 18.3 field-goal attempts per game, 42.2/36.6/84.2 percent splits), but Tatum has been asked to change his style of play, and he has done so enthusiastically. He has nearly doubled his 3-point attempts, and he’s taking nearly four free-throws a game -- one more than last year. His shot profile is somewhat similar to last season, but he’s taking more of them out of the pick-and-roll, and he has cut down his long mid-range shots. Meanwhile, his defense has earned shouts from Brad Stevens, and the Celtics are 9.2 points per 100 possessions stingier when he’s on the floor.

Brown, meanwhile, returned from a summer of work -- which we documented here -- a completely different player. Where he used to struggle with his handle, he can now beat defenders off the bounce and get to the rim, or pull up from mid-range, where his touch is impressive. After a hot December, he is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range, and with a spike in usage to 22.5 percent, Brown has maintained excellent efficiency at 123.9 points per 100 shot attempts -- an 89th percentile total for his position. His counting numbers (20.6 points on 51.8/40/75.2 shoot splits, seven rebounds and a career-high 2.4 assists) have taken a comfortable uptick as well.

Both Brown and Tatum are in real contention for All-Star slots. For a Celtics team whose Kyrie/AD dreams imploded spectacularly into a black hole (which might be swallowing Philadelphia at the moment?), watching their two best prospects take big, encouraging steps toward their vaulted ceilings is a major plus.


2. Kemba Walker was a perfect fit.

Walker’s stats, of course, are really solid -- he’s a no-questions-asked All-Star posting 22.5 points on 43.2/39.8/87.4 shooting while dishing out 5.2 assists per game. When the Celtics need someone to step up, he does so enthusiastically. When someone else is cooking, Walker is happy to take a step back and let a teammate get buckets for a while.

But his contributions go beyond that. Setting aside the transition from Kyrie Irving to Walker completely, he seems like a better fit for the young players on the team than even Al Horford. Where Horford was a quiet, consistent presence, Walker seems to be a charismatic point guard who relates well to Brown and Tatum. He invited the Celtics to his house for a Thanksgiving dinner, prepared by his mother. He connected to his Team USA teammates very intentionally.

Last year’s Celtics had a surplus of talent that didn’t fit together. We thought it was missing Anthony Davis. Maybe it was just missing Walker?


3. The Memphis pick might convey this year.

The Celtics would probably prefer to delay the Memphis pick one more year, when it becomes completely unprotected under the new, flattened lottery odds (and when the lottery contains talented players like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green), but there will be some intriguing options if the Grizzlies pick conveys this season.

That appears likely. The Grizzlies are one small losing streak away from dropping back in the pack, but they are currently 13-21 -- 12th in the lottery odds. Memphis is 2.5 games out of 4th in lottery odds, and they have a middle-of-the-pack strength of schedule the rest of the way, according to Tankathon. Even if they fall off, the pick has a good chance of bouncing to Boston.

So who are some names to keep an eye on? USC’s Onyeka Okongwu is one of the most intriguing names -- an athletic small-ball five with a phenomenal motor who can defend multiple positions and has stretch potential to the 3-point line. Dayton’s Obi Toppin has drawn some interest as well, and several guard/wing options -- Washington’s Jaden McDaniels and international stars Killian Hayes and R.J. Hampton are a few -- could be available in Boston’s range as well.

If the pick conveys next year, the Celtics might get another All-Star. This year, they could take a shot at shoring up their promising young core. One is clearly preferable, but both are solid options.


4. Gordon Hayward’s situation will be tricky.

Hayward’s offseason situation was always going to be interesting: If he had a good year, he could opt out of the final $30ish million owed to him to secure a bigger long-term pay day. If he had a bad year, he could keep the Celtics on the hook for his final season.

The former has happened, for the most part. When Hayward is on the floor, he has been excellent -- everything the Celtics could have hoped for when they signed him to a four-year max deal in the summer of 2017. He makes his teammates better, picks his spots efficiently and defends at a high level. When Walker needs a break, Hayward is more than capable of taking on the lead ball-handling responsibilities.

The only thing to watch: Will Hayward’s continued injury problems affect his decision? The broken left hand shouldn’t be much of an issue long-term, but his continued foot soreness -- which he believes is directly related to his catastrophic injury in 2017 -- is worrisome.

That could go two ways. If the Celtics want to keep Hayward and he opts out, they will have Bird rights to re-sign him this summer. If they would rather open up $30 million in space, they could see what else is on the market, but improving on Hayward might be difficult, especially in the free-agent market this summer.

With Tatum’s likely max rookie extension looming, these will be important considerations.


5. The Celtics might still need an upgrade or a level-up.

The Celtics are contenders, or close to contenders, as currently constructed, especially in the current wide-open landscape. But to become no-doubt contenders, with no caveats about the wide-open landscape, the Celtics might need an upgrade somewhere.

That might mean a trade. Much has been made of Boston’s issues with size, and the center rotation has been non-traditional this season.

But the level up could also happen on the team as constructed. Tatum in particular clearly could rise a level or two in the next few years as he continues to get comfortable with his new style of play, and Brown is just 23 with a history of improving every year as well.


In any case, the Celtics have positioned themselves to remain one of the league’s more intriguing teams for years. After last year’s difficult-to-watch season, that’s something to look forward to in 2020.



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