Danny Ainge on Jayson Tatum - "It would be crazy to put him into Summer League."
Jayson played a total of 99 games, including 19 of them in the post-season where he averaged roughly 36 minutes per game. Other than not having the opportunity to battle with Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors, he faced some of the toughest competition he will ever see in the NBA. And he absolutely proved himself in intense play against the likes of the Greek Freak, Joel Embiid and Lebron James. The following is what DraftExpress had to say about Jayson's potential before playing any games in the NBA:
Jayson Tatum - Polished Scorer The St. Louis native is the most polished scorer of the bunch, with stellar footwork, excellent touch 18 feet in, and a mid-post/back to basket game that rivals some NBA vets. Hard jab-step pull-ups, rocker-steps, side-steps, turnarounds, Dirk fallaways, quick spins, you name it, Tatum likely has it in his arsenal. - Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jayson-Tatum-7249/ ©DraftExpress
Polished scorer? Stellar footwork? Dirk fallaways? We saw that it was all true, starting in the 2017 Summer League. In the Utah Summer League, he averaged 18.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 2.3 SPG. In Las Vegas, he averaged 17.7 PPG and 8.0 RPG. We saw his promise, but Summer League play can be deceiving.
The regular season convinced us that we had a star in the making. He became a starter and he was damn good. But the post-season raised our hopes even more when under intense pressure he kept his poise and produced night after night. He wasn't just a star in the making - he was playing like a future superstar.
So Summer League? Why? For a chance to play against lesser competition or to pick up an injury. It would not make sense. Jayson made significant strides during the season, but working on increasing strength, improving ball-handling and becoming a better passer should be on his agenda. I certainly won't let him slide in any of my Fantasy Basketball drafts this coming season. He is going to have a terrific sophomore season.
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