The Boston Celtics have a player in the running for Finals Most Valuable Player, and when his team eliminated the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Friday, that player’s chances increased significantly.
That player would of course be All-Star small forward Jayson Tatum, who currently trails just three players in Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report’s assessment, which he bases off of the odds for the award listed by a popular online sportsbook.
The Duke product is currently the fourth most-likely player to take home Finals MVP for Swartz, behind the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler.
WATCH: Jayson Tatum’s full Celtics-Raptors Round 1 highlights https://t.co/61l923qFU4
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 14, 2020
Just ahead of the Lakers’ Anthony Davis in the rankings, some Celtics fans may wonder what Butler is doing ahead of Tatum, but if we’re being fair the Heat wing has done more to drag his team along in the postseason.
It goes without saying that a player must play in the NBA Finals to be eligible for the award, and with Leonard in an elimination game this Tuesday and the Celtics playing Miami the same day, Tatum could see those odds shift in his favor very soon.
Should Boston dispatch the Heat and the Clippers fail to advance, there’s a very good chance the primary obstacle to a Finals MVP is a player who already considers the St. Louis native an “absolute problem”.
