The Boston Celtics’ roller coaster season ended with a disappointing Game 5 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Many blamed the subpar play of point guard Kyrie Irving, while others pointed the finger elsewhere.
It appears one of those people is an anonymous Eastern Conference scout, who said that Jayson Tatum’s stock “took a hit” this season, according to Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington.
“Tatum’s stock took a hit this season,’ an Eastern Conference scout said. Others made similar claims during the season as the playmaking forward appeared lost at times playing with Irving. Regardless, Tatum is a talented 21-year-old who went head-to-head against LeBron James in the 2018 Eastern Conference Final.”Â
The final sentence of this redacted paragraph is key here. Standig, writing for NBC Sports Washington, wrote this amid his discussion of trade scenarios for Wizards’ all-star guard Bradley Beal. That same Eastern Conference scout went on to say that, if they were the Celtics, they would consider trading a draft pick, along with Tatum or Jaylen Brown, for Beal.
For the most part, Tatum’s numbers improved as he gained a bigger regular season workload during his sophomore campaign. His 3-point shooting fell to 37.3 percent from his rookie season’s 43.4 percent, while his shot selection also caused some issues in his game. Other than that, the numbers don’t show any major drop-offs.
Tatum’s name will be thrown around quite a bit as the offseason rolls on, especially with Anthony Davis rumors swirling about.
