Jayson Tatum is just 25 years old, but he has already stacked up a strong playoff resume. Since his arrival, the Boston Celtics has made four Conference Finals in six seasons, one of it manifesting into a Finals run last year. His heroic scoring has given them an offensive edge, but he inherited a team that was already in the Conference Finals a season before he arrived. One of the main reasons for that was their strong defensive identity.

And since they had a Defensive Player of the Year in the mix, things looked ominous for the opposition’s offense. Now the player is a longer part of the team.

Jayson Tatum crestfallen at 2022 DPOY’s departure

The killer edge that the Celtics have stems from the defense. Tatum and Jaylen Brown are hard workers at defense. Al Horford plays tough whereas they get stellar defense from whoever plays the Forward positions or slips in a three-guard position with Tatum as the Forward and Horford in the middle.

However, it was Marcus Smart who took the lead in that department.

Without his amazing switch defense, it wouldn’t have been possible for the Celts to build such an identity. He would be rough, and tough, and dive for loose balls at every opportunity. This is why he became the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year. 

Doing the dirty job made him an ideal teammate and a comrade-in-arms. Therefore, on June 24, when the Boston Celtics traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire Kristaps Porzingis, the NBA world was left in shock and many fans didn’t like the move. He was shocked more than anyone else, learning about the news at midnight when his girlfriend woke him up.

Now that he has joined Ja Morant and his Grizzlies, the Celtics will no longer have his services for now. The Celtics’ management may have something in the works but the trade has left its franchise centerpiece Jayson Tatum aghast. 

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The Forward’s words clearly state how he felt about the dogged defender.

Tatum’s wish gets shattered

He talked to Jeff Goodman, the writer for Messenger and someone who has followed him since his high school days. During the conversation, when the subject of Smart came to the fore, he had nothing but beautiful words for him. The Forward stated, ”I am for sure going to miss Smart. He was my teammate for six years and we’ve been through it all.”

The Forward continued, “We had good moments together, we had bad moments together. He’s somebody that I wish was going be my teammate forever.”

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So, will Tatum and the Celtics be the same without Smart? Will this move hamper their winning returns next season?