Where should star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum be ranked among the NBA’s elite after finally breaking through to help his team win the 2024 NBA Championship? After hanging Banner 18, the St. Louis native’s stock has understandably risen some, but how much?
Tatum has been seen as a top-20 player for some time now, and in the last few seasons broke into the top 10 best players level of recognition by most attempts to rank the league’s elite talents. Now, after being a fringe MVP candidate for much of the 2023-24 season and performing at a high level on the Association’s biggest stage, the Duke alum has risen even higher.
“Tatum has ranked between fifth and eighth on every individual voter’s ballot in every month of our Top 100 project this season,” intimates The Ringer’s Zach Kram. “The positive spin on that consistency is that Tatum is unanimously a top-10 player in the league.”
“The negative is that he still hasn’t figured out a way to break out any higher, into the true MVP tier,” he adds. Already a playoff veteran in his mid-20s, Tatum has all the markings of a player who’s ready to take that next step and lead a title team.”
The #Celtics are heavy favorites to repeat next year – but which team could stop them in the 2025 NBA Finals?@CAlmanza1007 of Thunder Wire joins @CelticsLab
— Celtics Lab Podcast (@CelticsLab) July 18, 2024
to talk the threats of the West.
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“He can score at all three levels and get to the line,” writes Kram. “He’s a tremendously versatile defender. He holds the NBA record for points in a Game 7 (51 against Philadelphia last spring).”
“Yet he still hasn’t taken that final step, despite repeated opportunities on deep playoff runs. He’ll have another chance this spring, as the best player on the best—on paper—team. But until he does, he might remain just on the periphery of any list of the league’s brightest stars.”
The Ringer’s ranking of Tatum? No. 5 in the NBA for the coming 2024-25 campaign.
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