The Celtics and Pistons tipoff the NBA season on Tuesday afternoon in Detroit. Let’s breakdown a betting angle on Jayson Tatum’s player props for the game.
Jayson Tatum Player Prop Pick vs. Pistons
With Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia, the Celtics offense is now built purely around Tatum. Boston has obviously leaned on Tatum heavily over the years, so this isn’t completely new, but I do expect some differences. The floor will be more spaced around Tatum to find shooters, and he also should get more lob opportunities in the pick and roll.
Tatum averaged five assists per game in his two preseason appearances, but playing just 28 minutes per game. With his minutes set to rise now that the games matter, so should those assist chances. We know Joe Mazzula’s obsession with getting up 3-pointers in high volume, and I expect those looks to be there. Tatum is a very willing distributor.
Tatum missed much of last season, but when he returned from his Achilles injury, he played three games without Brown and averaged seven assists. That’s a tiny sample, but still an indicator of what his role in the offense in the first full season without Brown should look like.
The Celtics also go from having one true lob threat at center to two. Neemius Queta broke out last season, and now will split time with Mitchell Robinson at center. One shoud be on the floor at almost all times, and each of them provide a terrific pick and roll parter for Tatum. We saw some of those chances play out in preseason and end with Tatum throwing the lob for the finish.
Tatum should be in line for a big season across the board, but I’m anticipating him to be a major distributor within this offense. Look for his assist numbers to be on the rise. I lean to a play on his assists to go over early in the season. We should see it move up early in the season, and now would be the time to take advantage.
NBA Lean: Jayson Tatum 6+ Assists (-125)
