In year five, Jayson Tatum is starting to blossom into the franchise player the Celtics anticipated he would be when they called his name with the third overall pick in the 2017 draft.
On Friday, Tatum had 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting (plus 10 free throws) to help lead the Celtics to a 131-112 win over the Nuggets.
Twelve games in, Tatum is fifth in the league in scoring (31.4 points per game) and is having an MVP-caliber season. The question is, how much better can he get?
After Friday’s game, Tatum was asked, “Would you say that you’re starting to enter your prime? You’re 24 now, and you’re getting better and better each year.”
“It’s hard to tell,” Tatum responded. “I do feel better each year than I did the previous year, and I think my numbers kind of show that. And I think, you know, I’m just more experienced the more games I play, the better you get.
“So, I feel like I should be better than the season I was last year from making it to the Finals. You know, that’s a big learning experience. I think just my eagerness and competitiveness to always want to get better, and, you know, prime, I don’t know… That’s always different I guess for each person. I feel like I still can get a lot better, so I still got some ways to go.”
Despite significant roster changes and three different coaches in his five seasons playing with the Celtics, Tatum’s improvement from season to season is showing everyone that he is a top-10 player in the league who is continuing to get better.
If we aren’t witnessing the prime of Tatum just yet, Celtics fans should be even more excited about the prospect of banner 18 coming sometime within the next few years, and the rest of the NBA should be in fear.
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