Celtics Star Jayson Tatum Listed as Top Trading Asset

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Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

As the Boston Celtics march through the season, their main goal will be to retool the roster and return to the NBA Finals next year. They’re off to a great start in that respect, add Danilo Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon.

In addition, they have found themselves in the midst of commercial rumors. Recent reports have indicated that they may be interested in a trade for Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant, which would require giving up winger Jaylen Brown.

However, while the Celtics may have explored the idea of ​​trading Brown, one player they would never trade with is Jayson Tatum. And according to HoopsHype, he’s the fourth most valuable player in the NBA in terms of commercial value, making him one of the league’s top assets.

“The promise Tatum showed during his rookie season ended up being a steady superstar,” the HoopsHype staff member wrote. “He has proven that he can be number 1 on a championship team when he has the right support group around him. No commercial package could get Boston interested in him after the Finals they had. “

Even so, some around the league still think the Celtics should part ways with their franchise platform.

GM proposes Tatum transaction

On July 30, Fox Sports’ Rich Bucher wrote an article detailing what the Durant-Celtics transaction could look like. He spoke to an anonymous Eastern Conference GM about the paper, who suggested that instead of trading Brown and other pieces, the Celtics give up Tatum.

“KD and Tatum are both talented, but I don’t know how tough they are. I know he’s a lot younger than KD, but if you were just trying to win a title, would you trade Tatum for Durant? I’ll do that before giving them Jaylen and Smart,” GM told Bucher. “Brown is underrated a little bit more than Tatum because he’s not very skilled. He is a high level athlete who has developed into a good player. But I have to think Brooklyn would prefer Tatum and you wouldn’t have to give up Smart.”

Abandoning Tatum in any deal would shock the NBA landscape at its core, and based on the HoopsHype article, it’s highly unlikely that the Celtics ever explored that kind of deal of their own accord. The only way for them to give up on Tatum is if he asks to be moved.

But given his recent speech on the importance of team chemistry and how excited he is to run it again, that seems unlikely.

Tatum Talks Team Chemistry

During his annual youth basketball camp, Tatum caught up with reporters. He talked about the importance of chemistry on the team to win and said he is happy to be back with the team next year because they have “unfinished business”.

“Chemistry is half the battle. I feel like you can have a great team with great talent, and not necessarily stick together. You guys saw that we figured it out in January and never looked back… It’s a bit different, knowing that we’ve reached a certain point and it’s so close. And we’re happy to get back to that, back with the team because we have unfinished business,” said Tatum.

While Tatum’s belief isn’t necessarily enough to stop the Celtics from breaking to their current core, his confidence in the squad means something.