This isn’t a reactionary take because I’ve held this opinion for months at this point. Tatum is obviously a very good player. No one in their right mind can deny that. His stats are impressive, he’s been on deep playoff runs but something just seems off whenever I watch him. People always call him an elite player but what exactly is he elite at? He’s not really an elite offensive player nor is he one of the 10 best defenders in the league. He’s a jack of all trades who is good to very good in most areas but not really top 3 or top 5 in the league at any. Luka, Jokic, LeBron, Giannis, Embiid are ELITE offensive players and Tatum is just not on their level. You can even make a case he’s not as good as SGA or even KD on offense. Defensively, he’s really good but again I don’t think he’s top 10 in the league at that. I’ve seen Celtics fans argue that once Tatum gets going and the 3 ball starts falling, he’s the most unstoppable player in the league but you can literally say that about any star player. Also if you’re relying on a star player to get hot to prove that he’s a superstar then your argument just falls flat. A superstar should be able to make his presence felt every game and he should be able to take over in clutch situations. Tatum again fell short in the 2nd half today, he only scored 8 points in the entire 2nd half of a playoff game against a heat team that’s missing 2 of its 3 best players. Players have bad games/quarters in the playoffs that’s true, but it just seems amplified with Tatum.
Yes he’s had deep playoff runs before but how much of that is on him and how much is of that on the team he’s had around him? Would it really make a difference if you replaced Tatum with another star wing? I don’t know at this point.