With the first two months of the regular season under their belts, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton have wasted no time picking up from their all-star campaigns from a year ago. Tatum, who earned All-NBA first-team honors last season, has his team sitting atop of the Eastern Conference standings with a 13-4 record. Haliburton, on the other hand, is on pace for career highs in almost every statistical category and has the Pacers in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. With both players wearing “0” on the back of their jerseys, Daily Campus Staff Writers CJ Dexter and Sam Calhoun debate about which “0” has been the best this season.
CJ: Haliburton
Find me another player in the league averaging at least 25 points and 10 assists per game while shooting 50% from the field this season. If you can’t find anyone else, that is because Haliburton stands alone in that distinction. The fifth-year point guard out of Iowa State is breaking out with averages of 25.9 points and 11.9 assists per game while shooting 52% from the field and a scorching 46% from beyond the arc (8.3 attempts per game). Compared to Tatum, Haliburton has been the better player because of how efficiently he creates his shot while finding teammates at an elite level. While Haliburton averages three points less than Tatum, he shoots significantly more efficiently from beyond the arc and averages over seven assists more per game than Tatum.
Sam: Tatum
The four-time All-Star said it best: Tatum is “humbly, one of the best basketball players in the world.” Haliburton and Tatum play different positions. Haliburton is a true point guard, the position that consistently makes their teammates better. Tatum averages 28.1 points per game, currently the second-highest average in a season in his entire career. He’s shooting just below 50% from the floor, and his 8.9 rebounds per game create second-chance opportunities for his teammates, such as Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday. Even though he’s not averaging over 10 assists per game like Haliburton is, the 6-foot-8 forward ranks 57th in the NBA in assists per game with an average of 4.1.
CJ: Haliburton
There is no denying that Tatum and Haliburton have different roles for their respective teams. However, Haliburton has been significantly better than Tatum in several key areas, such as three-point shooting, shot-creating and overall efficiency. The NBA Player Impact Estimate is a metric that gauges a player’s all-around contribution to the game, and Hailburton ranks sixth in the league while Tatum ranks 10th. Not only does Haliburton have a clear advantage in assist-to-turnover ratio over Tatum, but the Pacers star is shooting 10% better from beyond the arc on similar attempts per game as Tatum. Tatum has a slight advantage in scoring, but that is because he is not a pass-first player and is called upon to take a bulk of the shots for the Celtics. There is no doubt both players are on their way to All-NBA selections. Haliburton has the edge this season.
Sam: Tatum
Let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference standings, shall we? The Celtics, behind an MVP-caliber season so far from Tatum, are in first place with a 13-4 record. The Pacers are just two games above .500 at 9-7, sitting in a tie for sixth place. There are a lot of double-digit scorers around Haliburton. However, it is more impressive that Tatum averages over 28 points a game, with Brown and Kristaps Porziņģis averaging over 18 points per game each. Haliburton does not have the talented supporting cast Tatum does. There is no doubt what Haliburton does is impressive, but Tatum will always be in front because he is putting up numbers with another superstar in Brown. Your argument that Tatum is not a pass-first player is not completely wrong, but it is certainly not entirely accurate. Tatum ranks fourth on the Celtics in assists per game, behind Derrick White (5.0) and Jrue Holiday (4.9). He does average the most field goal attempts per game on the Celtics, but so does Haliburton. Tatum’s average is closer to Brown’s, but Haliburton takes roughly six shots more than his teammates and only two less than Tatum.