NBA assistant believes Celtics will have NBA’s best player in 2030

Boston Celtics

“He’s what everyone wishes they have: A 6-foot-10 guy who shoots 3s, gets to the rim and gets fouled.”

Jayson Tatum is staring at a long road to recovery as he works his way back from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

But even if the Celtics star forward might miss the entire 2025-26 season due to his injury, one NBA assistant coach believes that Tatum won’t miss a step once he does make his way back out on the parquet.

As part of an anonymous NBA offseason survey, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps asked who will be the best player in the NBA in 2030.

The full results?

Victor Wembanyama: 16
Luka Doncic: 2
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 1
Jayson Tatum: 1

While it should come as little surprise that many expect the 21-year-old Wembanyama to continue to ascend as one of basketball’s greats, one anonymous assistant coach in the Western Conference believes the best is yet to come for Tatum.

“There’s no one that has that shot profile,” the assistant told Bontemps of Tatum’s skillset. “He’s what everyone wishes they have: A 6-foot-10 guy who shoots 3s, gets to the rim and gets fouled.”

Tatum’s versatile offensive skillset, which doesn’t necessarily revolve around explosive athleticism, should remain intact once he does return to the court. 

Still, Tatum could conceivably start to enter the tail end of his prime years by 2030 — as he’ll be 32 years old that season. 

Still, Kevin Durant’s recovery from a torn Achilles from 2019-20 should serve as hope that Tatum’s standing as one of the top scorers in the league will continue in 2026 and beyond. 

Durant missed the entire 2019-20 season after tearing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals that June. But after getting cleared for game action, Durant has averaged 27.9 points per game over the last five years.

Tatum, who averaged 26.8 points, 6.0 assists and 8.7 rebounds per game last season with the Celtics, currently has no concrete timeline for return to game action.

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.