The Celtics' Biggest Concern With Any Durant Trade Should Be...

Jayson Tatum has the keys to Celtics' Kingdom right now and has grown as a leader. Would he be cool with going back to being a Prince-In-Waiting if KD comes on board?

We may be in the offseason, but we're talking about the NBA offseason and that means one thing…NO DAYS OFF! Full Court Press publishes at least twice a week in the summer and more in-season, with more videos, power rankings, etc. for our premium members while bringing you the best Celtics/NBA coverage with veteran NBA journalist Sherrod Blakely. If you like reading Full Court Press? Please subscribe and leave your thoughts, ideas, etc in the comments section. And if you want to get your friends on the Full Court Press team, forward away. You ️can also follow Sherrod Blakely on Facebook and Instagram, at @sherrodblakely.

*********************************************************************

If you are a Celtics fan, it’s hard not to get excited about the possibility, no matter how slim it may be, of having Kevin Durant don a Celtics uniform (you Photoshoppers out there; keep doin' you).

Durant is a generational talent that even at his advanced basketball age of 33 years old, there’s only a handful of players in the NBA that are in his league in terms of talent and accomplishments.

As much as Boston's Jaylen Brown has shown progress damn near every year he has been in the NBA, he is not as good a player as Kevin Durant.

But as Brown gets raked over the trade rumor mill with the various incarnations of a Durant trade to Boston, folks need to stop worrying about whether Jaylen Brown will be in his feelings over how this all plays out.

Folks worried about whether Brown will test free agency when his contract is up in a couple of years, there’s no need to fear.

The way the salary cap is set up, the likelihood that Brown will test the free agent waters is high, regardless of the KD talk.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Full Court Press publishes at least twice a week (and then some in-season), bringing you the best Celtics/NBA coverage with veteran NBA journalist Sherrod Blakely. If you like reading Full Court Press? Please subscribe and leave your thoughts, ideas, etc in the comments section. And if you want to get your friends on the Full Court Press team, forward away. You ️can also follow my Facebook page at @sherrodblakely.

The player the Celtics really need to worry about in all this is Jayson Tatum.

Why?

Because any deal bringing in a significant player will have some impact on him.

And of all the possible players Boston could add this offseason, there’s no player who will impact Tatum more than Durant.

Tatum has grown accustomed to being Boston’s go-to guy, and not having any real competition for the crown.

Bring in Durant and Tatum no longer holds the keys to the kingdom.

Instead, he becomes a Prince-in-Waiting.

We saw what that looked like when Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and Kemba Walker were around.

Tatum showed flashes of greatness then, but there were too many instances when he became comfortable with deferring rather than just dominating.

He’s an older player now and presumably has learned from that experience.

But how easy would it be for him to slip back into that mode of thought with Kevin Durant around?

But let’s assume that version of Jayson Tatum is a thing of the past, and the Tatum we saw most of this season will be the Tatum we would see if he teamed up with Durant.

That presents tremendous promise for Boston to get back to the NBA Finals; but there are some potential problems, too.

The progress we have seen with Tatum has been steady; from an elite role player as a rookie to an emerging scorer in his second season to being one of the more unstoppable wing scorers in the NBA who sends out “Top-10 Tatum” vibes a lot.

How will that version mesh with a player who loves the ball in his hands just as much?

And maybe most important, what will their chemistry look like?

Because as much as some Celtics fans have called for the team to break up Tatum and Brown, the Celtics advancing to the NBA Finals with Tatum and Brown leading the way, can’t be taken for granted.

Tatum and company probably would have been on a championship duck boat ride in June had Tatum played closer to the level he had, during the regular season.

As for Brown, he was arguably the team’s best player during the playoffs - certainly during the NBA Finals for Boston.

So the problem, at least during the Finals, wasn’t Brown’s play per se.

It was more on Tatum.

Does that pressure shift if you add Durant? And if it does, how will Tatum adjust to being the sidekick and no longer the star of the franchise?

That’s why all the talk recently of Jaylen Brown being in his feelings about possibly being traded, is a waste of time.

The real focus for the Celtics in a potential Durant deal or any other major addition to the roster is how it will impact Tatum.

A chance to keep building on what is a strong foundation, with Brown; or a chance to play with one of the greatest to ever play the game, in Durant?

Of course, it’ll be Brad Stevens, the team's president of basketball operations, making the final call.

But you know Tatum will have a voice in any major decision.

He is, after all, the face of the franchise…for now at least.