Jayson Tatum in a post-Jaylen Brown world

As the dust settles on the nuclear fallout from the Jaylen Brown trade that rocked all of Celtics Nation to their core, the question on what happens next is loaded but interesting to think about. We turn our eyes to Jayson Tatum who is now the no doubt number one option for this team. Looking at the roster currently constructed with the additions of Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, and Mike Conley, the idea of Tatum being able to lead Boston to a great season doesn’t seem so farfetched.

Tatum #1 Option History

When I think of Jayson Tatum as the number one option on the Celtics, it takes me back to when we saw him in a situation like this before. The 2020-2021 season was an odd, mediocre year for the Celtics where they finished with a record of 36-36 and the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the reason we saw Boston even in the playoffs was because of the play of a 22-year-old Jayson Tatum.

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Jaylen Brown suffered a torn ligament in his left wrist in a game on April 27th, 2021 and was ruled out for the season on May 10th, 2021. He would miss the last 7 games of the regular season and the playoffs and it looked like the Celtics’ season was all but over.

However, at the same time, Jayson Tatum was in the midst of playing some of the best basketball of his entire career. From April 28th until the end of the season, Tatum averaged 31.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on 49% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from three. This includes his career high for points in a game when he dropped 60 points on the San Antonio Spurs on April 30th, 2021.

In the 6 games Tatum played in without Brown in the regular season, he averaged 25.5 points 7.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 45% shooting from the field and 32% shooting from three with a 2-4 record. Then the inaugural Play-In Tournament began where the Celtics faced off against the Washington Wizards and Tatum would proceed to drop 50 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal on 14-32 shooting and 5-12 from three.

This gave Boston a date with the Brooklyn Nets in the first round with the three-headed monster of Kevin Durant, James…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jayson-tatum-post-jaylen-brown-091500852.html

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Publish date : 2026-07-03 09:15:00

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