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Paul Pierce, the Truth, is a legend in the city of Boston. He played 15 great seasons with the Celtics, ending as the franchise’s second highest scorer in history. On Tuesday he signed a one-day contract to end his career as a Boston Celtics player. He was also recently asked about Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum and his future with the team.
“That Tatum kid, he’s going to be real- as long as he keeps working. He’s got a lot of the tools. I like that kid” said Pierce on the No.3 pick from the recent draft.
Tatum a fellow small forward to Pierce have drawn similar comparisons with their ability to score the basketball and defend on the other end. In the summer league Tatum showed what he is capable over 6 games where he averaged 18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds on 44.5% from the field. He has now moved into fourth outright favouritism for the Rookie of the Year behind Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball & Dennis Smith Jr.
The comparisons so far don’t look crazy and if Tatum can even get close to Pierce’s output as a player then Boston fans can count themselves lucky that Danny Ainge decided to call Tatum’s name out with the third overall pick.