Out of all the enticing prospects coming out of this year’s NBA draft class, Jayson Tatum may have the highest ceiling out of them all. Selected 3rd overall by the Boston Celtics on draft night, the 19-year-old Tatum possesses a lethal offensive arsenal and the size to put up big points from either forward position.
Since being selected by Boston, the comparisons to Celtic legend Paul Pierce have been drawn on numerous occasions. Though Pierce was listed two inches shorter than Tatum, The Truth had a similarly scary scoring prowess and was one of the premier scorers the NBA had to offer in the early to mid-2000’s. Both have the ability to create their own shot and effectively operate under high defensive pressure but Pierce sees even more similarities between their games, calling the Duke product the ‘older version’ of himself in a recent interview with A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England:
“He looks like an older version of me, when I started doing the step-back and stuff,” Pierce said in an exclusive interview with CSN. “When I’m watching him, he looks like a mature version of my game, like sixth, seventh, eighth year. He sees the defense. He knows what’s going to happen before it happens. He understands his position, footwork, his step-back (jumper) is there. His offensive repertoire seems complete. The sky is the limit for that kid…”
The high praise from Pierce is warranted for Jayson Tatum. There is nothing this kid can’t do on the court and pairing him with two developed stars in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will allow for him to experience success right off the bat.
Though Pierce and Tatum do share some of the same characteristics, it remains to be seen if the rookie can live up to the immense pressure of being a Celtic great like Pierce could.
