My brother in-law and I often argue whether Booker or Tatum is better than another. It’s not the best argument because we’re both extremely biased, him being a Celtics and Duke fan and I’m a lifelong Suns fan. I also know it’s difficult to compare the two because they play different positions and roles on their respective teams.
That’s why I wanted to ask y’all, why is Tatum or Booker better than the other?
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Everyone knows /r/NBA shits on Booker all the time. Add in the number of Boston fans lurking all over this post and you’re going to get the majority leaning Tatum. This is the biggest misconception in the league. Booker is a better player this season as of today. But it’s not worth arguing with most of y’all who have it twisted when it comes to Devin.
If you finish 3rd place MVP you have an argument for top 3, if you have one of the best game 7s ever and a half decade of ECFs you’re probably pretty good and too many people rate Booker comfortably out of the top 10 because of his early career lack of any team success.
booker was top 4 in mvp himself.
I think currently they’re around the same tier Tatum is just being rated higher cause he has better defense
Because Tatum is just better. Anyone watching the past few seasons can see that. Dbook took a big step up recently which puts him just under Tatum but he still hasn’t matched him. If book keeps up this play all season and they go far in playoffs with him playing well then we can revisit the conversation. Sure book did awesome last year… but Tatum has also been deep playoff runs for years now.
id argue that booker is more consistent especially in the playoffs
tatum put up 14 points in two of the most important games against the heat last playoffs
Book is in a weird spot for these comparisons, but people love to do them. To me, he has clearly jumped well ahead of the group he used to be compared to (Klay, Lavine, Mitchell). I think he is closing the gap but hasnt done enough to reach the next tier (Luka, Tatum). So he gets these comparisons that feel way too low or way too high.
I honestly think the correct comparison group are younger players who in my opinion havent caught him yet (Shai, Ant and Fox). IMO, Book should be considered the better player, but that is the next wave of guards.
Tatum is not in that Luka tier. Luka belongs to the tier with Steph Jokic Giannis and KD. Tatum is a fair bit below that
Jokic and Giannis are both a clear tier above Luka
To be fair, deep playoff runs are about the team, not the individual (if you ignore Lebron in 2018 or Kawhi in 2019). Especially with someone like Tatum, who had some awful series in the past few seasons.
i argue that booker is becoming not just slightly better on offense, but significantly better due to the development on playmaking since last year’s playoffs which has continued so far this year. if he can keep scoring efficiently as well as run the offense, his advantage on offense can be as big or bigger than Tatum’s on defense.
plus, in today’s league offense just matters more anyway.
As others have mentioned, defense is a huge factor, as well as health. Also, I am not sure of Booker’s on/off numbers, but Tatum’s are insane. People always talk about the talent around Tatum, but once he is off the court, the team completely crumbles. And when he is on, no matter who is out there with him, they excel.
Booker is an extremely talented player - maybe even slightly better offensively - but he doesn’t quite have that heliocentrism of the league’s other superstars that Tatum has seemingly developed.
the are 7-1 with booker this year. before book came they looked like a play in team
Devin Booker’s on/off is +18.4 while Tatum’s is +8.4 according to Clearing the Glass
Because one guy is a borderline elite wing defender on track to become the #2 playoff scorer in the history of the NBA and the other is Devin Booker.
becoming “on track” to be one of the leading playoff scores isn’t that much of a flex cuz he’s been on a playoff caliber team every year of his career
Boston Media Mafia
Booker is a baby face but Tatum is an actual baby
Why do you care?
There are two players in the NBA that have fans OBSESSED with their ranking amid other players and nobody else really cares. Shut up about Devin Booker and Trae Young, nobody cares about their arbitrary rankings. Fans of these two players are obsessed with spamming threads about them though. Do you not understand nobody else really cares?
Size
I like Booker more personally
I think availability has something to do w it too. Tatums rarely out
Because boston
tatum is better so far, but remind me after this season to see how Booker has developed as point guard. if he succeeds, he can potentially leap Tatum, who seems to have peaked in terms of development.
What in the world would make you think Tatum has peaked in development??
what has Tatum added to his game in the last 3 years or so? he already had the scoring and defense.
The numbers you presented shows that Booker is much better thus far this season, no? I’m taking the higher ppg and assists with a better ts% and +/-.
Idk Bookers clearly better