TrueHoop analyst David Thorpe recently appeared on The Lowe Post podcast to talk on the most improved players of the 2019-20 NBA season with host Zach Lowe of ESPN, listing two Boston Celtics among his top 10.
You might already have guessed the duo, as shooting guard Jaylen Brown and especially swingman Jayson Tatum have both taken considerable leaps forward on both ends of the floor this season.
Brown went from scoring 13 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists to 20.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game between this season and last while Tatum saw his 15.7 points, 6 boards and 2.1 assists per contest jump to 23.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
What’s even more impressive is both have been better defenders as well.
“I have a real affinity for Jaylen Brown,” offered Thorpe for his eighth-most improved player this season, “because I feel like he’s one of those enigmatic players that gets in his head so much.”
“We saw a glimpse two years ago when Kyrie was out for the year. And we saw the debacle of the Celtics last season,” he continued.
“I didn’t know, honestly, what we were going to get from him this year, but what we got was a terrific, two-way player … If you had to guess what team would knock out [the Milwaukee Bucks], … the Celtics and Jaylen, Tatum, [Gordon] Hayward combinations, [Marcus] Smart, obviously Kemba [Walker] and Brad Stevens are important people. But I just thought Jaylen has that two-way ability that can get you a bunch of points.”
Tatum, in particular, stands out in how much he’s improved since that “debacle” of a season, his defensive leaps as important to his growth from a borderline star to one of the league’s elite players as his increased counting stats have demonstrated on the other end of the court.
“Tatum, to me, was No. 2.; some people will have him No. 1,” said Thorpe of the Duke product. “This guy might be an All-NBA player now … Not next year, this year.”
“You could make the argument — first of all, he’s the best player on one of the best teams, surely in the East … he’s their best player, and he’s become a two-way player, which is something I did look at. He’s probably a top 20 [player] on anyone’s list for the league, and he did the other things, like improve dramatically on scoring.”
Thorpe is justifiably impressed with the young Boston wing duo that took a team many believed might spend the season retooling to a true contender with their growth.
The pod is worth a listen, and not just for where the Celtics duo rank in the TrueHoop analyst’s estimation, but also where he sees them among their peers. To catch the rest of Thorpe and Lowe’s discussion on the state of improved players in the 2019-20 season, click the embedded link here.
