The Boston Celtics have one of the deepest rosters in the NBA, and they will likely have one or more players on the bench next season who could be starters on most other teams. It seems highly unlikely that Jayson Tatum will be one of them, but the emerging star says he is willing to accept that role if need be.
Tatum was arguably the biggest reason the Celtics made a deep playoff run last year without Kyrie Irving, and he averaged 18.9 points per game in the postseason as a 19-year-old. While you typically don’t see that type of production on the bench, Tatum says he has no problem being a sixth man if that’s what Brad Stevens wants.
“I understand how deep our team is,” he told Nicole Yang of Boston.com. “I just care about winning and doing what I can while I’m on the floor.”
Again, that probably isn’t going to happen. In addition to proving he can perform in the spotlight, Tatum also dunked on one of the greatest players in NBA history during one of the biggest games of the year. He has the potential to be one of the best — if not the best — players in the NBA several years from now.
Stevens may have to go with a small starting lineup of Tatum, Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, and he can always make tweaks as the season goes on. Whatever he decides to do, it’s a safe bet that Tatum will not find himself as the odd man out.
