Boston Celtics: 3 players who need to start strong in 2018-19 season

2. Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum took the first steps to superstardom in his rookie season. Tatum was dominant in his rookie season and established himself as one of the top young players in the NBA today.

In his rookie season, Tatum averaged 13.9 points and 5 rebounds a game. Those numbers are nice but Tatum’s skill was seen in the playoffs. The rookie averaged 18.5 points, 2.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds a game.

Tatum proved to be a quality shooter who can attack the rim. Before the draft, some people were nervous about Tatum’s athleticism, I think he proved his doubters wrong.

Now Tatum has a tough challenge ahead. Tatum now has to prove that his talent is legit. If Tatum has a rough season he will just be looked at as an average player.

The Boston Celtics have plenty of talent on their roster. When you have guys like Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris on the bench you have options. If Tatum struggles a lot early on we could see him start to come off the bench and have to earn his minutes back.

Now I don’t think that will happen. I expect Tatum to have a solid season, but if Tatum wants to take the next step in his career he needs to get off to a hot start.