Jayson Tatum is exasperated by his shooting slump and the Celtics are suffering along with him, Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes. In the first year of a five-year, $163MM extension, Tatum has missed his last 20 three-point attempts. His last miss contributed to a late collapse against Portland on Friday.
“It hurts,” he said. “It bothers you, as it should. But you can’t go back in time. It’s just get back in the gym, watch some film, learn from your mistakes, and try to improve on them.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors intend to be buyers on the trade market, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Ideally, they’d like to add a player, or players, that fit their short- and long-term plans without breaking up their core. Otherwise, they’d be willing to trade future assets, such as first- or second-round picks, to address immediate needs and improve their prospects for this season.
- The Raptors want rookie Scottie Barnes to be more assertive on the offensive end, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. He did that on Friday, scoring a season-high 27 points. “I just think that Scottie’s a good player who can score, I think he needs to just make sure he stays in that mindset of being aggressive,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I’m just trying to get him to be ultra-aggressive. That’s it. I don’t want him to have those lulls where he’s not looking to score or not touching the ball or finding the ball.”
- The Knicks have lost three straight but coach Tom Thibodeau sees growth from center Mitchell Robinson, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds against New Orleans on Thursday, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Robinson will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. “I think he’s become very effective with dribble-handoffs,” the Knicks coach said. “I love the way he’s finishing. And then putting the pressure on the rim, that’s always been a gift. And you throw it near the rim, he’s got great hands. He’s going to get it and finish. You just continue to grow.”
Well the Raptors have 19M to make a deal. Dragic is surely available. Maybe they target Wood, Sabonis, Valanciunas, . Esp if they are willing to give up picks.
If they wanted to go forward with a smaller lineup… They could target Ingram for Dragic and Boucher. But that would leave them pretty depleted depth wise.
If they use Dragic they have to being in a veteran PG backup on the cheap. Maybe they are a landing spot for Avery Bradley, Corey Joseph or Schroder.
Raptors kind of remind me of the Celtics when they had only wings with Hayward and were still targeting Kawhi. But better defensively.
Sabonis though would make that team very good through the 1st 7 players and a few decent role players off the bench.
Sabonis
Siakam
OG
Trent
Fleet
Barnes
Boucher
There is no Raptor named Fleet. It’s Vanvleet.
The way the Raptors play makes a big difference on what type of big man fits the team.
Guys like Valanciunas and Sabonis do not fit.
I know that isn’t the case for every team but they tried the traditional center route last year and abandoned it pretty quickly. There are feel few big guys nowadays who should dictate a teams style of play.
Pretty sure my autocorrect took over on that one. I’ll just stick to acronyms FVV. Val has changed his game completely since leaving the Raptors, not even the same type of player, much more rounded game and he can stretch the floor. Same with Sabonis, another big that can stretch the floor.
I like JV but he’s still too slow in defending on dribble penetration and he just becomes a nightly pylon. He’s also got overpaid by that idiot Nola GM. The Good ship Raptor has sailed on by.
Based on potential What is 2021 NBA Re-draft: Top 5 Picks
Cade Cunningham
Josh Giddey
Mobley
Barnes
Kuminga
Ayo Dosunmu might not go ahead of those guys, but he’s quickly making a name for hisself. He was an absolute steal for the Bulls in the 2nd Round..
He’d definitely end up being top 15, possibly even top 12 in a draft re-do..
Potential is a laughable concept. Some here still believes Bol Bol is the next Garnett. Re-draft based on actual play:
Mobley
Scottie
Giddey
Cade
Wagner
Mobley is the top pick by a mile.
Jalen Green FG%
38%, 30%
John Wall last year
40%, 32%
Westbrook this year
43%, 30%
The problem with Tatum is he is forcing to many shots and there is no offense sets! It is dribble down and shoot! The coach is terrible and has to go! The Celtics offense and defense is terrible and it almost looks like play ground basketball! Fire the coach and get someone in here that knows how to coach! This team is a disaster because of the coaching!
Udoka is the symptom. Over the past five years, the team has been on a steady decline. The common denominator is Stevens. Worse still, is Wyc Grousbeck is proving to be a disappointing owner.
Bight, Side, Disagree. It was just in 2020/2021 that the Celtics were in the Eastern Conference finals against the heat.
Under Stevens, the Celtics made it to 3 eastern conference finals.
No one wants to hear this because ppl hate on the man but Tatum is just Tobias Harris this year with more FGA per game.
He’s doing too much, pressing too hard. Needs to let the game come to him more, more shots in rhythm. His Defense is still there, basically he needs to just get through this season and not focus on trying to win but focus on making smart plays and better shot selection. Maybe drive to the basket more than he has been bc he’s good from the line, or some pick and roll closer to the basket. He’s around the 3pt line a lot.
Tatum and Brown have always had a star point guard, it was Kyrie then it was Kemba.
Both guys got painted out to be the rotten egg and everyone was saying how much better it’ll be without them. But Tatum and Brown can’t run an offence it’s really that simple.
Not a huge knock on them but it’s just their game. They need someone out there calling plays, making sure everyone is in the right place doing their roles.
Thee’s, I agree with you 100%. Geez, bring back Brad Stevens as head coach. Under Stevens, the Celtics did make it to three Eastern Conference finals and showed promise. This new coach totally sucks.
They weren’t exactly overachievers under Stevens. The problem is the Celtics are a stupid team. They need to understand the following: the 3-pt shot is king
build through the draft
learn how to draft
learn to develop the youngsters
It’s not that hard. High level free agency is enemy turf. The team has never succeeded in the area. Bringing in veteran journeymen won’t turn the team around.
Celtics other mistake was letting go of Rozier. To bad we can’t bring him back along with IT. Bring back the band- Tatum, Brown, Rozie, and IT.
Rozier shot poorly with the Cs. Moverover, he hated playing under Stevens. He’s been better with Charlotte, yes. Unfortunately the timing was wrong and crystal balls are made in China.
Yes, Celtics are only 1.5 point guards away from a title. This idea solves everything.
Celtics problem is the offence and lack of a quality point guard to dictate the play.
They were good under Stevens a former point guard, when the team had an all star quality point guard. Isiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker…
Tatum and Brown simply can’t run the offence and not all players can. Tatum is a volume shooter and Brown is a sidekick style two way wing. Neither really set up team mates or look to create for others.
Bit difficult trading for a good point guard now. But if your desperate you could make a play for Russ or John Wall. Particularly Wall I think he could be a great fit.
Aside from them you can try for Dragic or Brunson but that’s not going to push the needle much.
If your willing to go big then you could try for Ben Simmons or DeAaron Fox but it’s going to take a big shake up.
But going forward this team needs a point guard. If I’m the Celtics I’m happily trading Brown for Fox or Simmons and getting back extras on the side aswell.
As a Sixers fan, my dream return for Ben Simmons is Jaylen Brown. We don’t need a point guard replacement. What we need in a two way wing which suits the side kick role. Brown and Harris complement Embiid like Middelton and Holiday around Giannis. We don’t need a Dame, Harden or Beal.
The deal which helps both sides:
Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and 2 first round picks for Jaylen Brown, Dennis Schroder and PJ Dozier.
Sixers
1. Maxey. Schroder. Shake
2. Green. Korkmaz. Joe
3. Brown. Thybulle
4. Harris. Niang. Reed
5. Embiid. Drummond
Celtics
1. Simmons. Pritchard
2. Curry. Smart
3. Tatum. Nesmith
4. G Williams. Bol
5. Horford. R Williams
Sixers have a stacked team with a loaded bench ready for a deep playoff run.
Celtics have a lead guard to run the offence through, the shooting improves with Curry, the defence is improved aswell. Definitely lacking in depth but that will improve over the offseason.
The core Simmons Tatum Curry Smart and the Williams boys that’s what you build around.
If the Celtics were to trade either of their young stars Jason Tatum or Jaylen Brown, the team would be broken & in the weeds for years to come! No way Brad Stevens would do something that stupid! Fans and analysts just need to hear themselves talk.
Tatum has missed an amazing 20 three pointers in a row! That will change.
Yeah and the Celtics will go from the 10th seed to the 8th wow……
The team has two all stars and should be a top 5 lock but they suck.
A lock? Please! Celts do suck right now but that doesn’t mean we ruin Celtics future!
Jason Tatum has missed 20 threes in a row & Jaylen Brown has missed almost half the season & they should be a lock?
Celts have cheapskate owners who won’t pay for any other talent like Hayward or Fournier or anyone else so we’re left with vets (sorry guys!) who other teams don’t want & youngsters who don’t get minutes.
Just have some patience. I know it’s fun to design trades but no blowing things up out of frustration.
They should be a top 5 lock.
Nets Bucks Bulls the clear top three then
Celtics 6ers Heat the next best three
Celtics have two all stars as do the heat and the 6ers second all star Ben Simmons isn’t even playing.
So on paper they should be better than the 6ers and be in the top 5. But no they are battling for a play in spot to the playoffs.
This team you say the owners don’t want to invest in did trade for Kyrie and after he fell out traded for Kemba and after he fell out traded from Horford and signed Schroder.
It’s definitely Brown and Tatums fault people need to stop protecting their favourite players. They just don’t work well together and all season have struggled