Jayson Tatum talks Jaylen, Smart, Hayward, Kyrie, Coach K, and missing out on incentive money
Here is the full interview of Jayson Tatum on JJ Redick's "The Old Man and the Three" podcast.
Topics include: tough lessons from Coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K) and his time at Duke, the people who want to break up he and Jaylen Brown, addressing the comments made by Marcus Smart, falling short of people's expectations after succeeding in his early NBA career, the problem with the All-NBA voting system that impacts his contract, the hardest series of his life (against the Toronto Raptors), why The 2018 Celtics team w/ Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward didn't work, the moment talking to LeBron validated his career and so much more.
The main topic people were discussing afterwards was Tatum discussing missing out on $32 million over the length of his max extension because he didn't make an All-NBA team last season. This is a difficult topic for fans, since you want the guys you root for to get accolades and get their "bag," but as a fan of the Boston Celtics it actually was a good thing that Tatum got snubbed.
If Tatum had made an All-NBA team, there would be $5 million less of talent on the Celtics this season, since our team's ownership is very strict about not paying the luxury tax. So maybe no Josh Richardson trade last offseason or Dennis Schroder signing. Who knows how that would have affected Boston's trade deadline acquisitions of Derrick White and Daniel Theis.
To have the best team possible, you need to not only not have overpaid contracts, but also to have some underpaid contracts. That's how the Warriors were able to create a dominant teams and still were able to add Kevin Durant. This is also why it was easier to have max contracts like Al Horford, Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, and Kemba Walker alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown when both were still on their rookie deals.
Now that both Celtics stars have gotten their "bags" you see how the rest of the roster's contracts are considerably smaller. So as a fan of Tatum, but also a fan of the Celtics, I was personally low key happy he didn't make an All-NBA team last season.
Now if Al Horford earns his full contract with hefty incentives next season due to the Celtics winning that championship, that's a "bonus" I'd be happy to see a player make!