Jayson Tatum Might Be the NBA's Best Player

Jayson Tatum Might Be the NBA’s Best Player

Jayson Tatum is doing more than anyone expected this soon after his Achilles injury. He ruptured his right Achilles in May during the 2025 playoffs, and rather than sitting out all of 2025-26 as expected, he returned in early March. Boston then went all in on him. The Celtics elected to choose Tatum this offseason, trading Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. He has run the whole offense, averaging 27.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.9 assists a game. He has also had big nights, like when he finished with 40 points, five rebounds, eight assists and one block across 42 minutes in a 125-124 overtime win over Brooklyn. Tatum is 6’8″, scores from all three levels, defends multiple positions, and is now Boston’s main playmaker. On paper, that makes him one of the most complete players in the league.

The problem is that Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama are on another level right now. In the NBA’s first official Kia MVP Ladder of the season, Luka sat at No. 1 with 38.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 8.0 APG. That’s a scoring pace few players have ever held. Wemby is putting up numbers the league hasn’t seen in about 50 years. In one game he became the first player with 50+ points, 20+ rebounds, 5+ blocks since Bob McAdoo in 1974, and he had eight blocks that night. Luka is the best offensive engine in basketball. Wemby changes the game on both ends in ways no one else can. Tatum is great at almost everything, but neither of the other two has a hole in his game that Tatum covers better.

The markets see it the same way. Doncic and Wembanyama are going blow-for-blow in NBA MVP prediction markets, which have been reduced to a two-horse race in less than 10 games. One prediction-market ranking had Wembanyama at 32%, Doncic at 26%, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 13% and Jayson Tatum at 12%. That puts Tatum in the conversation, but clearly behind. His efficiency is the biggest thing keeping him there: he’s shooting 41.8 FG% and 22.9 3P%, far below the best players in the league. If his shot comes back and Boston keeps winning, Tatum could make this a three-man race. For now, the “best player in the world” debate belongs to Luka and Wemby