The Boston Celtics made one of their best decisions in franchise history when they drafted Jayson Tatum in 2017. At 25 years old, Tatum has already
made three All-NBA teams and four All-Star games. The St. Louis native won the inaugural Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy in 2022, along
with an All-Star MVP this past season. In 2020, he became the first Olympic gold medalist from St. Louis since 1968.
During Tatum’s time in the league, Boston has reached the conference finals on four separate occasions with an NBA Finals appearance in 2022.
Over six regular seasons, the Celtics own a record of 282-157 when their superstar forward plays. Only Nikola Jokic has won more regular season
games in that span with 283.
While Boston has experienced many highs during the Tatum era, the team is no stranger to lows. In fact, peaks and valleys have often defined the
growth of Tatum and his counterparts. Despite the overall success JT has brought to the Celtics, Beantown’s franchise cornerstone has played with
some shaky starters over the years.
Here are the 5 worst Boston Celtics starters during the Jayson Tatum era so far
5. Aron Baynes
During a preseason game in 2017, the great Tommy Heinsohn provided Celtics fans with some of the funniest sports commentaries ever when he
famously referred to Aron Baynes as “All of Australia.”
In the 2017-18 season (Tatum’s rookie year), Baynes drew 67 starts. Standing at 6-foot-10, he averaged a quiet 6.0 points and 5.4 rebounds on 47.1%
shooting. He also recorded just 0.6 blocks per game.
Baynes actually provided solid per-minute production as he posted his averages in just 18.3 minutes per game. Even so, his lack of scoring versatility
and mobility consistently limited his playing time. Boston mainly utilized him in a double-big lineup with defensive juggernaut Al Horford, who hid
some of Baynes’ biggest deficiencies.
Despite his weaknesses as an individual player, Baynes saw the floor during many successful stretches for Boston. He contributed to one of the best
defenses in the league, and he held a positive on/off differential during each of his two seasons as a Celtic, per Cleaning the Glass.
During the 2019-20 season, Baynes followed his departure from Boston with a career year in Phoenix. The bearded baller developed a legitimate 3-
point shot, which helped him average a career-high 11.5 points per game with the Suns. Baynes canned 1.4 threes per game across 42 contests with
Phoenix.
All in all, Baynes did make the best impact on the Celtics of anyone from this list. However, the Australian big man may have displayed less raw talent
than any other Boston starter in the last ten years.
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