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LeBron James kicked things off with a near-perfect rating in NBA 2K19 on Monday and that grand reveal sparked the slow trickle of player ratings across the league. On Tuesday, the second such number came to light and it centered on Boston Celtics forward and soon-to-be NBA sophomore Jayson Tatum.
In short, the 20-year-old from Duke was treated quite favorably, coming away with a preseason rating of 87.
For the sake of comparison, players like Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley and Bradley Beal began the 2017-18 NBA season with an identical rating, so this is a great deal of respect for Tatum. In the postseason, the former No. 3 pick appeared to make something of a leap, averaging 18.5 points per game on the whole and an impressive 23.6 points per game in a memorable series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, Tatum wasn’t quite that good in the regular season, averaging 13.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game over 80 contests. Undoubtedly, this rating bakes in quite a bit of improvement and, given his efficiency (43.4 percent from three during the regular season), it isn’t completely far-fetched that Tatum would live up to the considerable faith displayed here.
With that said, this just might be an instance of the hype machine churning out of control and it wouldn’t be an overwhelming surprise if Tatum functioned in something of a supporting role for the Celtics. After all, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are set to return to full-time action and Boston boasts the deepest roster (don’t forget Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and the potential return of Marcus Smart) in the Eastern Conference.
NBA 2K19 might look brilliant with this aggressive rating and that has to be said. At this point, though, Tatum is being granted a ton of respect.
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