Can Jayson Tatum ELEVATE to NBA MVP status? 🤔 | The Hoop Collective

Can Jayson Tatum ELEVATE to NBA MVP status? 🤔 | The Hoop Collective

Bontemps uh got a fair amount of reaction to the to the straw poll from a couple of days ago and one of the surprises I think uh was that Jason Tatum remained six I would say that the voters were unmoved by Tatum’s play recently because he was sixth in your

First poll in December sixth in in this poll no first or second place votes um despite him having a good season um and the Celtics just having a spectacular um a spectacular uh first half more than first half first 50 games they won by 50 on Wednesday night against the Nets he

Had 40 in that game to go or he had 40 on Tuesday they played them back home at home um yeah uh Tatum is shooting the ball better this year his scoring average is down but that’s not a bad thing he’s taking sort of some smarter shots um

What’s your opinion as to why Tatum hasn’t gotten more traction in MVP voting I mean we talked about this a little bit the other day I think it’s combination of I mean I I think I think it’s less about the way that he’s he and the Celtics have played in the playoffs and

I just think it’s more that you because we talked about that the other day I I think it’s more that his numbers are very good but they’re just not of the same supercharged caliber of these other guys that we’re talking about in part because the Celtics have a ton of talent

And they’ve got Chris as porzingis getting the ball a bunch and Jaylen Brown getting the ball a bunch and Dereck white and Drew holiday getting the ball a bunch so his usage rate is lower than some of these other guys and I also think part of it is he’s just not

Quite seen in the same realm as yanis and Luca and jic and even to an extent Jay Gils Alexander as a player now again I think he’s one of the 10 best players clearly in the league he’s probably for me somewhere between like six or seven and nine like tremendous player but

Generally you see a guy who’s in the top five win this award and I think if Boston goes on to win 65 games which they’re very capable of doing then perhaps that will change as the year goes along but I think with the the numbers that these other guys are

Putting up I just think it’s going to be difficult for Tatum to move up higher on the ballot and I sort of think this is what we’re going to see for a while for Jason Tatum frankly which is that he’s probably going to be somewhere around fourth or fifth every year which is

Basically what he’s been because he’s an awesome player and his team is awesome but he’s just not quite seen as a top five guy in the league as of now now he’s also like 26 and has continued to get better and he could Ascend more but I think that’s

Generally why he’s I don’t want to say an afterthought but he’s farther down the list than these other guys yeah Zack L and I both picked Tatum before the season when we did in Awards pod under kind of the logic that number one you know the Celtics we thought were

The best team in the NBA and number two that some of the the players that you know traditionally have been at the top of the ballot might be ineligible because of the 65 game rule is as we have now seen to come to pass with Joel

MBI I I think part of it is not only that Tatum’s numbers are not as good as you know the the top three guys in particular they’re also not even as good as last season because of you know the additions to Celtics have man it’s kind

Of funny I I can understand if you’re a Celtics fan it seems like uh from a Rec individual recognition standpoint people are talking out of both sides of their mouth where you know on the one hand Tatum isn’t seen is on the same level on the other hand we have this team that’s

Clearly faren away the best regular season team in the league plus 10o differential going to have a terrific you know regular season like one that Stacks with the all-time best regular seasons and they have two Allstars which is kind of funny I mean Derek white and christops porzingis you know kind of two

In that next group out in the Eastern Conference but uh I to go back to Tatum specifically I I did not ultimately have him on my ballot I think you know his the top three to me assuming those guys stay healthy are pretty close to a lock those guys you know have separated

Themselves from the field being yic Giannis and SGA fourth and that’s Up For Debate I I think very much so and Tatum has a chance if they if he has a strong finishing kick down the stretch here and Boston you know remains number one by a wide margin I I think

Fourth is probably his ceiling which is where he finished last year right that’s true now I will say that the Celtics have a number of high-profile National Television games after uh the break here um including that game in Denver there is a window for him to sort of improve his case

Although the way they play the depth that they have the way that they spread the ball around I mean he could play brilliantly and still not get you know that sort of string of you know 40 or 50 or even the 60 point games that some of

The other guys at the top have gotten um and you know he is said you know that’s not what he’s looking for so um I’m a big believer in Tatum uh I have you know sort of locked horns with the other guys on this pod in the past over my belief

That he can be uh you know a top five player and and and and do it at the highest level he has taken shot you know he has taken some some hits in the last couple years for the way he played in the finals you know he just did not have

A great finals he was being bothered by a wrist injury but you know I think he had a 13 or 14o performance in the the elimination game against the the warriors on their home floor uh last year he had a very anemic performance on uh on game seven against the Heat again

On you know on his home floor he did he was awesome in game seven against the Sixers he had 51 and that game was a blowout he didn’t seem like he got the maybe appropriate credit for that he also was great in the fourth quarter of

Game six so it’s not like the resume is you know all full of holes he just you know even Donovan Mitchell um who you know Donovan responded you know to the the straw pole not directly but you know I think Donovan was a little bit frustrated that he wasn’t higher on the

Straw pole and talked about it a little bit um the next couple of you know like 36 hours after it came out uh even though the Cavs had a a kind of a shaky loss at home to the 76ers that you know we missing like three top guys um Donan

Was talking after the game about his MVP chances but he did come on NBA today uh on Wednesday and was talking about how he thinks that his MVP candidacy is affected by his scattered playoff record and that he understands that for him to really ever get up there probably has to

Prove himself in the in the PO season fair or not so I think that that is a factor um it’s also it’s also it ALS it also just needs to be said that the ballot is full of ridiculous players like Kevin Durant is averaging 28 points on 54% shooting 44%

From three averaging like six rebounds just under six assists and he got like a handful of votes I think he was ninth right right like you know we’re talking about like there’s a lot of guys have an unbelievable season so I don’t think it’s a and I’m not saying you’re framing

It this way but I don’t think it’s a crime that Jason Tatum is Sixth and Donovan Mitchell is e agre it’s just it’s a loaded it’s a loaded field it’s very hard to pick between these guys I agree and you know and just we’re in this such offensive era um that you know

Because if you’re a Cavs fan and you’re not watching the league and you’re watching Donovan put up these 45o games and you know routinely put up 30 and your team’s in second place in the East and you’ve won 16 out of 18 or or 17 out

Of 19 or whatever it is now and you know this draw poll is you know it’s really really authentic it’s one of the you know McMahon makes fun of me but like truly it’s a really good thing that Bon Temps has done and it like is a real

Good data readout on on the way things are and like so if you’re a Cavs fan if you’re a Celtics fan you’re watching Tatum have all these really good games and then you see this poll I get where you’re like what’s going on but it’s it’s hard to have that perspective I

Mean just for offensive perspective the Lakers okay they put up 138 at the Jazz on Wednesday night and stats Williams had this incredible number that over the last 11 games the Lakers have had the highest point average for an 11 game stretch since 1987 and you would never look at this

Laker team and say boy that’s going to rival the showtime Lakers um but they are playing Showtime level basketball offensively right now so you I think there is some sort of of of grappling uh with that with the numbers and you know that that that lack of perspective can

Can affect the way people uh look at the MVP race because even though we’ve seen this scoring bubble over the last few years it’s still you know accelerating at this Point he

Can Jayson Tatum ELEVATE to NBA MVP status? 🤔 | The Hoop Collective
Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton to talk about whether Jayson Tatum can elevate to NBA MVP status.
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