Per The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania, the Boston Celtics have decided to exercise the fourth-year team option on 21-year-old forward Jayson Tatum. He’ll be paid $9.9 million in the 2020-21 season.
Color the Gang Green and their faithful fans unsurprised that Boston wants to keep Tatum in town.
Tatum, selected with the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Duke University, has long been lauded as a potential All-Star. He’s averaged 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in his budding career, shooting 46.1 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three and 84.0 percent from the free-throw line.
Celtics president and general manager Danny Ainge consistently raves about Tatum’s talent, as the third-year forward has not only a natural feel for scoring and can get his shot off in a variety of ways but has the will to be great, honing his abilities as a defender and three-point shooter when those weren’t identified as his strengths coming into the league.
Now, Tatum is more or less a player who can do-it-all. Although he still possesses the mentality of a score-first player, he’s more aware of how to effect the game positively when his shot isn’t falling.
Shot-selection, quick decisions, hustle, defensive effort and crashing the glass are just a few ways he’ll do that.
Entering his third season in the NBA, Tatum is expected to make a dynamic impact and hopefully, earn a trip to the All-Star game.
More importantly, he’ll hope to reclaim the star power he amassed in the 2018 Eastern Conference Playoffs, when he had an offensive impact near that of Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Tatum will be eligible for a contract extension next season and Boston will undoubtedly be interested in working that deal out as early possible. Barring a catastrophic season, Tatum should be in line for a max extension on his rookie scale contract.
