Tatum, Morant, Trae?

[ZionDunks]

If you could pick one of the three to build around for the next 10 years. Which one would you pick and why?

[SATAN]

Morant has the highest ceiling. He's fearless, very skilled and steps up in big games. He's a better team leader and fairly consistent.

EDIT: I do like Trae but he can be bad on defense and his foul baiting is annoying. I wouldn't build around Tatum.

[AirBonner]

Tatum. Bigger is always better. You need a HOF cast to build around pointguards

[tontoz]

I would take Morant. He has shown he can actually take a back seat and let others get theirs while also being able to take over in crunch time.

Tatum and Trae have both been called out by teammates with their ball dominance and chucking.

[insight]

Tatum. Bigger is always better. You need a HOF cast to build around pointguards

Bigger is not always better, it is an advantage when all things are equal. It's not really about the position, Jordon, Magic, IT, Lebron, Steph all played with hall of famers or future hall of famers.

[Smook A.]

I'll go with Ja Morant. I love his confidence and unselfishness. He's very smart with the ball and can score in a number of ways. Scary part is, he's only going to get better.

Trae and Tatum are both great players as well, but I feel like those two can get really selfish at times and become trigger-happy.

[insight]

Morant has the highest ceiling. He's fearless, very skilled and steps up in big games. He's a better team leader and fairly consistent.

EDIT: I do like Trae but he can be bad on defense and his foul baiting is annoying. I wouldn't build around Tatum.

How does Morant have the highest ceiling? FYI, Morant is not a good defender either. Tatum and Trae have more bigger moments in big games than Morant.

[insight]

I'll go with Ja Morant. I love his confidence and unselfishness. He's very smart with the ball and can score in a number of ways. Scary part is, he's only going to get better.

Trae and Tatum are both great players as well, but I feel like those two can get really selfish at times and become trigger-happy.

Trae is the only player who is top 5 in scoring and assist, if he was selfish why does he have more assist than Morant?

[tontoz]

Trae is the only player who is top 5 in scoring and assist, if he was selfish why does he have more assist than Morant?

Because he is more ball dominant. Morant allows other guys to actually handle the ball instead of waiting for someone to get open for a shot before he passes.

[Smook A.]

Trae is the only player who is top 5 in scoring and assist, if he was selfish why does he have more assist than Morant?

Never said Trae was selfish. And more assists doesn't necessarily mean less selfish. Look at Russell Westbrook for example. He lead the league in assists multiple times and consistently averages 8-10 apg every year, yet he still makes more of a negative impact.

Trae is great and he proved that in last year's playoffs. However, there are times where he has some horribly inefficient games that end up causing his team to lose. Ja's much more efficient and his shooting and finishing have both improved. I also feel like he's a better team player than both Tatum and Trae

[AirBonner]

Trae and Ja are both liabilities on defense. Sure Ja hasn’t been exposed yet but the signs are all there (short, defense improves when they are off the court). Tatum is the only true two way player that can play in a system, be a facilitator,, and take over the game

[insight]

Because he is more ball dominant. Morant allows other guys to actually handle the ball instead of waiting for someone to get open for a shot before he passes.

The Hawks don't have players who are ball handlers and create their own shot. They are shooters and lob threats. Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clark, JJJ, Tyus, and Kyle don't need Morant to create shots for themselves. In fact they don't need Morant to win, Memphis started their win streak when Ja was injured.

[AirBonner]

The Hawks don't have players who are ball handlers and create their own shot. They are shooters and lob threats. Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clark, JJJ, Tyus, and Kyle don't need Morant to create shots for themselves. In fact they don't need Morant to win, Memphis started their win streak when Ja was injured.

That is true. And Trae brings nothing defensively. Tatum is similar to Trae on offense and better than both Trae and Ja on defense.

[insight]

Never said Trae was selfish. And more assists doesn't necessarily mean less selfish. Look at Russell Westbrook for example. He lead the league in assists multiple times and consistently averages 8-10 apg every year, yet he still makes more of a negative impact.

Trae is great and he proved that in last year's playoffs. However, there are times where he has some horribly inefficient games that end up causing his team to lose. Ja's much more efficient and his shooting and finishing have both improved. I also feel like he's a better team player than both Tatum and Trae

I watch most of the Grizz games and Ja makes a lot a silly play. He gets caught in the air, trying to drive in the paint routinely. He is asked to do less for his team than Trae or Tatum so his game isn't scrutinized in the same way. There is a reason why teams guard Trae Young full court and constantly double team him. Ja doesn't get that type of attention he may get trapped from time to time but he doesn't have to carry his team like Trae and Tatum. Ja is not a 3 level scorer, teams leave him open from 3 daring him to make the shot, teams do not leave Trae or Tatum open period.

I love Ja's energy and how he plays about the rim but skill wise he is not there yet. He is getting better, but not yet.

[insight]

That is true. And Trae brings nothing defensively. Tatum is similar to Trae on offense and better than both Trae and Ja on defense.

Tatum is a better defender, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired. Trae is not a shooting guard, and he doesn't have another point guard to share the offensive load. His defense will improve when he has someone else to take some of the offensive load off him like a Jaylen Brown or a Dillion Brooks.

[AirBonner]

Tatum is a better defender, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired. Trae is not a shooting guard, and he doesn't have another point guard to share the offensive load. His defense will improve when he has someone else to take some of the offensive load off him like a Jaylen Brown or a Dillion Brooks.

Depends if you have been watching him for the past two months. He is all defensive and got snubbed. He has been great defensively most of the season

[Airupthere]

Ja/trae







Tatum

[AirBonner]

Ja/trae







Tatum

Ja hasn’t done anything in the playoffs. Cool

[Airupthere]

Ja hasn’t done anything in the playoffs. Cool

We have yet to see but there is so much potential. As for tatum, we’ve already seen the whole bag of tricks.

[AirBonner]

We have yet to see but there is so much potential. As for tatum, we’ve already seen the whole bag of tricks.

Tatum is 23 Trae is 23. Ja is 22 stop acting like he’s old you dumbass

[Airupthere]

Tatum is 23 Trae is 23. Ja is 22 stop acting like he’s old you dumbass

Tatum is young but he plateaued. Simple as that.

[AirBonner]

Tatum is young but he plateaued. Simple as that.

You don’t even watch the games so why discuss this?

[Airupthere]

You don’t even watch the games so why discuss this?

Lol I watch the games. Albeit not as consistently as before. Because.. pain. Nice streak we have but Id like to see how consistent we become.

[bladefd]

I have begun to question Tatum. The Kobe/Jordan comparisons were premature. His play has not been high-level lately. I would have to go with Ja Morant from the 3 followed by Tatum and then Trae.

[tontoz]

The Hawks don't have players who are ball handlers and create their own shot. They are shooters and lob threats. Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clark, JJJ, Tyus, and Kyle don't need Morant to create shots for themselves. In fact they don't need Morant to win, Memphis started their win streak when Ja was injured.


Bogs, Gallo and Collins absolutely have the ability to create their own shots they just don't get many opportunities with the Hawks.

The Grizzlies wins with Ja out coincided with the return of Brooks who had been out hurt and is their best perimeter defender. Ja's defense has been almost as bad as Trae. Brooks isn't nearly as skilled offensively as Bogs or Gallo. His efficiency has been weak his whole career.

[fsvr54]

When the Hawks are healthy, Trae leads the starters as the number 1 offense in the league among 5 players

[fsvr54]

Bogs, Gallo and Collins absolutely have the ability to create their own shots they just don't get many opportunities with the Hawks.

The Grizzlies wins with Ja out coincided with the return of Brooks who had been out hurt and is their best perimeter defender. Ja's defense has been almost as bad as Trae. Brooks isn't nearly as skilled offensively as Bogs or Gallo. His efficiency has been weak his whole career.

Collins is a weak shot creater, has no dribble. Gallo is old and will have games where his body hurts, Bogi has been oft injured too and it always takes him like a month to get back to form.

[ZionDunks]

I have begun to question Tatum. The Kobe/Jordan comparisons were premature. His play has not been high-level lately. I would have to go with Ja Morant from the 3 followed by Tatum and then Trae.

Reminds me a lot Kobe

[AirBonner]

Y’all have to remember that this is the first season that this team is really Tatum’s team. No Kemba, no Kyrie

[NBAGOAT]

i'll say trae, ja's never going be the shooter he is. all he needs to is try and know what he's doing on defense and his impact will improve significantly.

[tontoz]

To be fair I haven't watched Tatum during their recent run. I hear he is doing a better job with shot selection and passing but I just haven't seen it.

When I was watching him earlier in the season his selfishness was hard to watch.

[AirBonner]

According to NBA .com general defense. Tatum is ranked 6th defensively. Ja Morant 162nd. Trae Young 394th. Imagine ignoring half the game

[insight]

According to NBA .com general defense. Tatum is ranked 6th defensively. Ja Morant 162nd. Trae Young 394th. Imagine ignoring half the game

Trae is the only player who involved in nearly all of the offensive sets for his team. He is doubled and trapped more than Ja and Tatum. Tatum plays ISO ball, he doesn't create shots for his team mats. Ja doesn't have to bring up the ball every play, there are other capable guards who can run the offense distribute and score.
When Trae doesn't have to expend so much energy creating offense for his team then you can call it half of the game.

[AirBonner]

Trae is the only player who involved in nearly all of the offensive sets for his team. He is doubled and trapped more than Ja and Tatum. Tatum plays ISO ball, he doesn't create shots for his team mats. Ja doesn't have to bring up the ball every play, there are other capable guards who can run the offense distribute and score.
When Trae doesn't have to expend so much energy creating offense for his team then you can call it half of the game.
Tatum averages 4 assists per game. Maybe he’s assisting himself?

[Thenameless]

Of the three, I like the way Ja Morant plays the game, so him.

[Akeem34TheDream]

According to NBA .com general defense. Tatum is ranked 6th defensively. Ja Morant 162nd. Trae Young 394th. Imagine ignoring half the game

I checked that stat and Curry was 5th. Top 10 is a pretty random list tbh.

[insight]

Tatum averages 4 assists per game. Maybe he’s assisting himself?

Really, All Hortford has 1 less assist per game than Tatum. I you really trying to claim Tatum is a playmaker. If he a great playmaker and could create offense for others there would be no need to trade for Derrik White. Why did the Celtics bring in Kyrie and Kimba and why couldn't they WIN with all these playmakers.

[insight]

I checked that stat and Curry was 5th. Top 10 is a pretty random list tbh.


What he calls general defense is meaningless statistics, this is not a list of the best defenders best to worse.

[ImKobe]

Tatum makes poor decisions in crunch time but he's still a better player than Trae IMO. Morant is the best of the 3 because he's such a great team player while getting his numbers.

[insight]

Tatum makes poor decisions in crunch time but he's still a better player than Trae IMO. Morant is the best of the 3 because he's such a great team player while getting his numbers.

Better player based on WHAT? I question what you guys are watching or your basketball IQ if you watched the playoffs last season it was obvious who the most dominant player was and who elevated him teammates to overachieve.

Just say you like Tatum and Morant better, claiming they are better players is ridiculous.

[ImKobe]

Better player based on WHAT? I question what you guys are watching or your basketball IQ if you watched the playoffs last season it was obvious who the most dominant player was and who elevated him teammates to overachieve.

Just say you like Tatum and Morant better, claiming they are better players is ridiculous.

I liked trae in the post-season but out of the 3 he's by far the worst defender and the most ball-dominant. Tatum's the worst of the 3 on offense but he's an elite defender and can score with the best of them as well but Ja is just such a special player on offense because he will give up the ball and stand in the corner and get in position off the ball.

Just because I think Trae's the worst of the 3 doesn't mean there's a huge gap or that he's not a great player. It's really close between the 3 but I have to weigh the pros with the cons. Tatum's been to two ECFs and he's had some great seasons as a jump shooter. Ja hasn't done much in the POs yet but he's easily the best of the 3 in terms of potential and overall athletic ability & the ceiling that he has as improving to a 35-38% from 3 could make him the best player in the league while we've seen plenty of undersized guards like Trae have a few good seasons and just fall off because they're such a big liability on defense. Tatum could also be the best of the 3 but he's been too inconsistent.

[insight]

I liked trae in the post-season but out of the 3 he's by far the worst defender and the most ball-dominant. Tatum's the worst of the 3 on offense but he's an elite defender and can score with the best of them as well but Ja is just such a special player on offense because he will give up the ball and stand in the corner and get in position off the ball.

Just because I think Trae's the worst of the 3 doesn't mean there's a huge gap or that he's not a great player. It's really close between the 3 but I have to weigh the pros with the cons. Tatum's been to two ECFs and he's had some great seasons as a jump shooter. Ja hasn't done much in the POs yet but he's easily the best of the 3 in terms of potential and overall athletic ability & the ceiling that he has as improving to a 35-38% from 3 could make him the best player in the league while we've seen plenty of undersized guards like Trae have a few good seasons and just fall off because they're such a big liability on defense. Tatum could also be the best of the 3 but he's been too inconsistent.

Nah bruh, I agree they are all great young players, but Trae has been a better player and is a better player right now and the numbers and playoff off performances bear that out. Trae stats have been consistently better than both of him, and they are improving each year. He has the most skills by far offensively, and defensively we saw teams were not able to exploit Trae or they wouldn't made it to the eastern conference finals without their best defender Hunter.
Tatum is not an elite defender; he is an average defender. Trae and Ja's defense are both poor defenders, but Memphis is a better defensive team. If you don't believe me, go look up the stats, Morant is the worse defensive player on his team, but he is asked to do more offensively and has Dillon Brooks, JJJ and other players to make stops.
Trae is the only one seeing SUPER STAR LEVEL defense, teams play him full court, use traps, double teams, box in one and all types of defenses to stop Trae, Tatum and Morant have NEVER SEEN THAT HEAT. Teams leave Ja open and dare him to take 3s, Tatum struggles to find the open player when teams double him and makes poor decisions.

Your whole point about small guards makes NO SENSE, the smallest player is JA and he is a greater risk of injury because he plays above the rim. Players like D Rose, John Wall, Oladapo and Zion who rely on athletic ability inevitably get hurt and are never the same. Player who don't rely on athletic ability are the ones that last in the league.

[ZionDunks]

What does one of these three guys need to do to get MVP consideration?

Why are they never in the convo

[Axe]

I checked that stat and Curry was 5th. Top 10 is a pretty random list tbh.
If that's true, i don't freaking believe it. :crazysam:

[Axe]

I liked trae in the post-season but out of the 3 he's by far the worst defender and the most ball-dominant. Tatum's the worst of the 3 on offense but he's an elite defender and can score with the best of them as well but Ja is just such a special player on offense because he will give up the ball and stand in the corner and get in position off the ball.

Just because I think Trae's the worst of the 3 doesn't mean there's a huge gap or that he's not a great player. It's really close between the 3 but I have to weigh the pros with the cons. Tatum's been to two ECFs and he's had some great seasons as a jump shooter. Ja hasn't done much in the POs yet but he's easily the best of the 3 in terms of potential and overall athletic ability & the ceiling that he has as improving to a 35-38% from 3 could make him the best player in the league while we've seen plenty of undersized guards like Trae have a few good seasons and just fall off because they're such a big liability on defense. Tatum could also be the best of the 3 but he's been too inconsistent.
Lol you're making morant look overrated. Maybe your statement will become valid once he's able to lead his team to the conference finals like what trae and tatum did with their respective teams the past two seasons.

[ShawkFactory]

Trae is clearly the best offensive player of the group. His ball dominance is not really THAT much more significant than Morant, and of course his passing skills are just off the charts. Despite the ball dominance that Trae sometimes displays the Hawks are still second in the NBA in ORTG. He almost always draws double teams these days and when guys like Hunter, Huerter, or Bogi are working on-ball he does a good job of keeping teams honest. They only weakness that he had offensively was that he could sometimes be a really streaky shooter from deep but he's tightened that up significantly to where at this point I don't think he really has anything you could nit-pick. He's even added elements to his midrange game aside from just the floater. There's a reason his efficiency has improved despite the rule change.

Now..defensively. Yikes. It's not even that it's laziness, he just doesn't seem to have any instincts whatsoever on that end. There are stretches where it's truly like playing 4 on 5 on that end.

[tontoz]

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g195/tontoz/Screenshot_20220222-104727.jpg

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense/?sort=DEF_WS&dir=-1


One problem with this list is that there isn't a minimum for games played.

[insight]

Trae is clearly the best offensive player of the group. His ball dominance is not really THAT much more significant than Morant, and of course his passing skills are just off the charts. Despite the ball dominance that Trae sometimes displays the Hawks are still second in the NBA in ORTG. He almost always draws double teams these days and when guys like Hunter, Huerter, or Bogi are working on-ball he does a good job of keeping teams honest. They only weakness that he had offensively was that he could sometimes be a really streaky shooter from deep but he's tightened that up significantly to where at this point I don't think he really has anything you could nit-pick. He's even added elements to his midrange game aside from just the floater. There's a reason his efficiency has improved despite the rule change.

Now..defensively. Yikes. It's not even that it's laziness, he just doesn't seem to have any instincts whatsoever on that end. There are stretches where it's truly like playing 4 on 5 on that end.

Everything you said was spot on, but in years past in was a lack of effort, this season I see more effort, but he is being asked to do too much. You can't expect him to handle the traps, double teams, hard fouls on the offensive end and then turn around and fight over screens, defend taller bigger players without getting an opportunity to rest. The problem is the Hawks are playing 3 on 5 or 2 on 5 at times because Bogi, Huerter, Gallo, Lou and sometimes Hunter miss their defensive assignments too or do not have the foot speed to stay in front of their man.