I think Tatum will be fine as a scorer. And I think he'll be fine as a defender.
The biggest question for him will be whether he can be effective within the flow of the offense (and not be a ball stopper), which was his biggest issue at dook. Either that or he'll have to be such a good offensive player that ball stopping will be acceptable.
Thats one of the few flaws in his game. IMO he will fix this issue.
He was only 205 pounds his freshman season and was the same the year before and the year before that aka jr year of hs....
Gaining legit lean muscle has been hard for him but I see it as a huge opportunity. No way does a lean and stronger(lower body, core, upper body) 220 pound Tatum go #3 in this draft. His physique and strength (lower body/core/ and upper body) is a huge factor in his ability to drive and finish at the rim and IMO may cause some of the ball-stops offensively because confidence in his driving/finishing.
I think he just needs to get to his move quicker, it will help the flow of the offense if he decides to attack right away or pass. Improving his 3 pt shooting will be helpful as well, because he will be deadly attacking closeouts.
TP Completely agree and think Tatum will be a great triple threat(shooting, driving, passing). I have a working theory(take with grain of salt) as to what could be the root cause for his ball-stopage...which possibly could be more of an issue from 3(further from the bucket/rim)
Why does he pause when receiving the ball, why does he take too much time to observe the defense when catching and holding the ball, why can't he just get to his move more quickly, and for a guy with his abilities& skills why was he not a triple-threat that flowed with an offense that featured 2 great 3-point shooters (Allen and Kennard and etc.)....(all rhetorical questions)
THE DRIVE part of the "triple-threat" includes quickly penetrating to other spaces on the floor (not just the rim) including the lane/ ft line/ paint/and other spots to create offensive advantages and force defenses to quickly adapt in order to expose....
IMO as of now he had a difficult time with this part of the triple-threat
(driving and penetrating) His foot injury made him miss time and included missing 8 games and could have put him behind.
Being a triple-threat(shoot, drive, pass) was difficult for Tatum, even though he possesses the skills, for physical reasons and then formed into mental reasons including confidence in his first-step especially from the 3-point line. He made it obvious when he was going to drive to the rim and he could have used the extra legs to finish.