The Whiteboard: Jayson Tatum wants you to know he fixed his jumpshot

There were very few blemishes on the Boston Celtics' title run last season but Jayson Tatum's jump shooting was definitely an issue. In the aggregate, he was terrific in the postseason — averaging 25.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game, playing gritty, focused defense and doing whatever it took to help Boston win.

But he was also something of a mess from outside the paint — shooting 28.3 percent from beyond the arc and just 37.3 percent on mid-range jumpers. It came to a head in the NBA Finals, where he was 12-of-55 (22 percent) on all shots from beyond five feet, and almost certainly carried over into his Olympic experience where he barely played and missed all four of his 3-point attempts for the tournament.

Tatum reportedly worked with his trainer over the offseason on tweaking his form and former Celtic and NBC Sports Boston commentator Eddie House explained what appears different about his stroke:

"Now that I’m starting to look at it and see him take more and more shots, he doesn’t have that dip and he doesn’t bend so much. It’s quick, boom, and it’s out of there. It’s a lot easier for him to get it off quicker and, I mean, good luck for everybody else.

But what really matters is the results, which, so far, have been ridiculous.

Through the first three games of the season, Tatum is shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from beyond the arc. He's already made 20 pull-up jumpers, nearly twice as many as anyone else in the league and has posted a 70.5 effective field goal percentage on all pull-up shots.

It should come as no surprise then that the Celtics offense is absolutely rolling, averaging 129.0 points per 100 possessions, 3.5 points ahead of anyone else in the league and a massive jump over their league-leading and record-setting mark of a year ago.

In the rare moments the Celtics looked vulnerable during the playoffs last year, it was when they leaned too much into isolations and found their offense stagnating as they struggled to create good shots and make tough ones. That certainly won't be a problem if Tatum keeps shooting like this. He's currently third in the league in isolation possessions per game and no one is averaging more than his 1.54 points per possession. In fact, no one else is even in the ballpark — Kevin Durant is the next closest in points per isolation possession among players with at least three a game, coming in at 1.30.

It's hard to imagine that Tatum keeps shooting quite this well but even with a significant regression he could still be on track for a personal-best jump shooting season. Coming into this season, he'd made 37.5 percent of his 7.1 3-point attempts per 36 minutes. So far this season, he's making 48.6 percent of 13.0 attempts per 36.

Remember, Tatum is 6-foot-8 and can get his jumper off pretty much any time against almost any defender. If he's comfortable doing that at this volume and at anywhere close to this level of accuracy, he — and the Celtics — may really be unbeatable.

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NBA news roundup:

• Dwyane Wade is a handsome man. The statue the Miami Heat unveiled of him outside their stadium is not. It looks like Gary Sinise was stung on the cheeks by a bunch of bees. Years of cuts to arts funding and now we're discovering we're a country with no sculptors.

• The Warriors spent the offseason building a much deeper roster. They're going to stress test that depth much earlier than they thought after Steph Curry left Sunday's loss to the Clippers with a sprained ankle.

• Watch out world, the Lakers have a new favorite trade target. Isn't there a commandment about not coveting your neighbor's young shot-blocking anchor?

Ranking the NBA's five winless teams: Who is actually bad?

1. Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets were probably ready to take a step back this year, ostensibly replacing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Russell Westbrook and relying more on their young players. But a lot of teams are going to get creamed by the Thunder this year and dropping a five-point game to the Clippers isn't exactly cause for panic. The Nuggets will be fine.

2. Sacramento Kings: Replacing Harrison Barnes with DeMar DeRozan is a big stylistic change that will take time to work out. But they've lost to the Lakers and Timberwolves by a total of six points, games that easily could have gone the other way. DeRozan has looked good, Kevin Huerter might be back and there's every reason to think they'll be firmly in the playoff mix.

3. Detroit Pistons: This may feel like a painful rerun of last season's start but the Pistons are showing signs of life. All three of their losses have come against likely playoff teams, including the Celtics and Cavs. Cade Cunningham is showing signs of progress in important areas and the 3-point shooting is noticeably better with Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tobias Harris in the mix. Most importantly, Jaden Ivey looks rejuvenated and the vibes don't match the record.

4. Utah Jazz: The Jazz are going to be all over the map this season — as evidenced by a two-point loss to the Grizz, followed by a 41-point loss to the Warriors. Four of their top seven in minutes played are 23 or younger and they're only going to get younger if they try to find minutes for Isaiah Collier when he's healthy. They have talent but don't expect consistency yet.

5. Washington Wizards: The Pistons got more attention last season but I'd argue that the Wizards were really the worst team in the league last year. They've lost to Boston and Cleveland (by 39 points combined) but don't expect things to get much better as the level of competition drops off. They're very young, playing at a significant talent deficit against most of the league and, of course, they still employ Jordan Poole.