No, the Celtics should not trade Jayson Tatum

Joe Mazzulla has been spending the early days of June making the rounds to meet up with a few of his gamers at their dwelling courts, so to talk.

The Celtics coach traveled to Omaha and labored out Baylor Scheierman at Creighton College, the latter’s alma mater. A number of days later, he was noticed in Lisbon, Portugal with Neemias Queta, the place they have been taking within the opening recreation of the Portugese Basketball Championship Finals.

Presumably they acquired in some on-court time as effectively, maybe working some three-man weaves, low-post drills, and, most crucially, something that can train Queta to withstand committing knuckleheaded fouls.

Hopefully, the Joe Mazz Gamers Test-In World Tour features a cease in St. Louis, or wherever Jayson Tatum is placing within the work this offseason.

Whereas the confabs with gamers like Scheierman and Queta — each of whom had real breakthrough seasons in 2025-26 regardless of the disappointing ending individually and as a group — are greater than worthwhile, Mazzulla’s most necessary process this offseason is to have a frank and maybe troublesome dialog with Tatum, the group’s most necessary and, sure, greatest participant.

No, this chat wouldn’t be about the potential for Tatum being traded. That might be absurd. Not that it’s stopping some followers from fascinated with it.

It blows my thoughts how a lot correspondence I’ve had with real Celtics followers who, as a consequence of brief reminiscences or aesthetic points with Tatum’s play, have advised buying and selling him reasonably than Jaylen Brown, ought to Brad Stevens determine that buying and selling one glorious Celtic for a good higher participant is one of the best (and solely?) solution to contend for championships within the coming years.

To summarize dozens of e mail and social media responses, or ever since I declared in a column that buying and selling Brown for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was the appropriate, if extraordinarily dangerous, path:

Tatum is greater than Brown, youthful, a greater rebounder, a significantly better passer, a extra versatile and attentive defender, and the superior scorer — even whereas being the first focus of the opposing protection when he and Brown share the courtroom.

There’s an argument — not essentially a profitable argument, however one through which a case might be made — that Brown is the higher participant in massive moments. He was the Jap Convention and NBA Finals Most Useful Participant when the Celtics collected Banner 18 two years in the past. (Feels longer in the past, huh?)

Brown hit what I believed was the most important shot of the Finals, a 21-footer with 61 seconds left in Recreation 3, which gave the Celtics a 102-98 lead after the Mavericks whittled down what had been a 21-point Celtics lead earlier within the quarter. The Celtics won, 106-99, to take a 3-0 lead within the collection. That shot fended off the Mavs’ try to make it not less than one thing of a collection.

Celtics followers are inclined to neglect that Tatum averaged 22.2 factors, 7.8 rebounds, and seven.2 assists per recreation in these Finals, higher than Brown’s 20.8/5.4/5.0. I believe they neglect as a result of Tatum struggled together with his shot, hitting 38.8 % general and simply 26.3 % from 3.

Nevertheless it doesn’t clarify why so many Celtics followers dismiss Tatum’s big postseason moments — a 46-point masterpiece on the street towards the defending champion Bucks in Game 6 of the 2022 conference semifinals (a collection the Celtics received in seven video games), or his 51-point efficiency in Game 7 against the Sixers (one other collection the Celtics trailed 3-2 and received) within the convention semis a 12 months later.

Tatum has 5 playoff video games with not less than 40 factors, and 13 with not less than 35. He has 18 playoff video games with not less than 13 rebounds, and 9 with not less than 10 assists. He additionally dropped 50 on Kevin Durant and that annoying Nets group, and dunked on LeBron James’s brow as a rookie. I assume you keep in mind these. Then once more, perhaps not.

This isn’t to recommend that Tatum’s playoff resume — or common method, for that matter — is flawless.

And that’s why his coach wants to speak to him — and get by way of to him.

Watching the Knicks win the NBA Finals, and the way in which they did it, gives additional stark proof that the Celtics offense should change. Tatum holds the important thing to that.

The Knicks have a high-usage, ball-dominant fulcrum in Jalen Brunson. However they nonetheless transfer the ball constantly and with function.

It’s such a distinction to watching the Celtics at season’s finish, when Tatum deserted the initiator position he performed upon getting back from his Achilles harm and the offense devolved again into the ugly, unimaginative, iso-heavy offense that basically boiled right down to Tatum or Brown going one-on-one whereas Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and whomever else was on the courtroom stood round in a nook or perhaps, in the event that they have been feeling lively, set a display.

Significantly annoying are the a number of possessions per recreation the place the participant that brings the ball previous midcourt is the one which shoots, generally with a eh-might-as-well 3-point try with 14 seconds on the shot clock. Tatum, who has shot roughly 35 % or worse from 3 in 4 of the final 5 seasons, must decide to taking higher photographs. He should cease with the passive or acutely aware resistance — it’s in all probability slightly of each — to enjoying quicker. It could profit him too.

Tatum and Brown have had huge success right here, and their pure expertise and willpower has usually made the uninspired and inefficient offense work. They’re fantastic gamers, already assured of getting their numbers retired to the rafters some day.

However if you’d like this group to get legitimately higher this offseason … effectively, one of the simplest ways, I nonetheless say, is Brown-for-Giannis. I’ve but to listen to a selected plan of assault on “including across the edges” that can make them an instantaneous contender once more, which is Stevens’s mission throughout Tatum’s prime. We love Robert Williams III round right here. That doesn’t do it, gang.

Ought to Tatum and Brown stay right here in tandem for a ninth season, there may be one other means the Celtics can enhance: Share the ball. Make the protection work. Search for one of the best shot, not your greatest shot. Be taught from the champion Knicks.

It’s on Mazzulla to make this clear — to Tatum; to Brown, if he’s nonetheless right here; and to anybody who needs minutes subsequent season.

Presuming, that’s, that Mazzulla doesn’t must be advised himself.

Chad Finn

Sports activities columnist

Chad Finn is a sports activities columnist for Boston.com. He has been voted Favourite Sports activities Author in Boston within the annual Channel Media Market and Analysis Ballot for the previous 4 years. He additionally writes a weekly sports activities media column for the Globe and contributes to Globe Journal.