Ramp to Camp: What more can Jayson Tatum add to his game?

Ramp to Camp: What more can Jayson Tatum add to his game? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jayson Tatum has always been pretty good with predictions. Over the summer he shared an essay he wrote in the fourth grade in which he essentially laid out his future as an NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist.

During an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, Tatum was asked to predict the NBA’s next Most Valuable Player.

“Can I say myself?” Tatum responded with a smile.

MVP feels like one of the few boxes Tatum has left to check as he ascends into the uppermost echelon of NBA elite. But what can he add to his game to help reach that lofty perch?

For the ninth installment in our Ramp To Camp series, we asked our NBC Sports Boston panel to pick one thing they’d like to see from Jayson Tatum during the 2024-25 season.

(Check out the first eight installments of Ramp to Camp here.)

Tatum, a three-time All-NBA First-Teamer, already has two top-six finishes in MVP voting (sixth in 2024; fourth in 2023). His scoring dipped last season but his playmaking evolved as Tatum did a lot more of the little things that helped Boston dominate the league.

There isn’t a lot to quibble about. Tatum had his best season finishing at the rim (72 percent) and pushed his 3-point shooting percentage north of his career mark (37.6 percent last year). Some will quibble with his shot selection, and after some early success in the post last season, we’d love to see him lean a little heavier into working in that spot over the course of a season.

But, for this writer, it’s all about Tatum’s evolution as a playmaker.

Tatum draws so much attention that it creates easy scoring chances for his teammates. During Boston’s dominant postseason run, his potential assists per game spiked to 10.1. He had more potential assists in the finals (10.8 per game) than Luka Doncic (9.6), and created nearly four more assist points per game than Doncic in that series.

Tatum has only three career triple-doubles, but one came early during Boston’s 2024 playoff run. By leaning just a little heavier into playmaking, it feels like a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ramp-camp-more-jayson-tatum-152151022.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-09-12 15:21:51

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