The Step Back Composite NBA Draft Big Board: The best 30 draft prospects of the 2010s

No. 3 overall pick, Boston Celtics, 2017

Jayson Tatum is another player who, like Beal, didn’t have the best statistical profile, but definitely showed flashes of the talent that he’s shown through three NBA seasons. An inconsistent defender and 3-point shooter at the college level, Tatum’s easy transition to the NBA was hidden by his fit at Duke. The Blue Devils’ roster and system asked him to be more of an isolation scorer than he was comfortable with, which led to Carmelo Anthony comparisons that look completely farfetched now. We didn’t get to see a lot of Tatum’s work on dribble hand-offs, spot-up situations and transition opportunities, and instead read too far into his perceived comfort with off-the-dribble pull-ups that he was asked to create. Due to his offensive load, we also never got to truly see the versatility he brings to the game on defense, and that has been perhaps his greatest value to the Boston Celtics at the NBA level.

Tatum looked like a very good talent at the college level, but the question was whether he was the right kind of All-Star to be able to build a winning team around. He presented as the type of player who could easily lead a team in scoring, but might not be efficient enough to create enough positive impact. While that is less optimal from a team-building perspective than the deficiencies of players like Cousins or Lillard, it means that Tatum was operating at a higher level as a prospect than those players were — and that he should get top billing for this tier.