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All signs point to the Boston Celtics making Jayson Tatum a focal point of the team not only for this season, but the future as well.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who sited league sources, the Celtics picked up Tatum’s $9.9 million fourth-year team option Monday.
The Boston Celtics have exercised forward Jayson Tatum's $9.9M fourth-year team option, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Critical third season coming for Tatum.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 14, 2019
That will give a slight pay bump to Tatum as he is set to make $7.8 million as he enters his third NBA season. As Charania pointed out, it’s an all-important year for Tatum, who in his first two seasons with the C’s averaged 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
Tatum wasn’t the only player the C’s exercised a team option on. Per Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports and the CelticsBlog, the C’s picked up the 2020-21 rookie scale team option for Williams.
Per league sources: The Boston Celtics have exercised their 2020-21 rookie scale team option for Robert Williams. This is the third year team option for Williams.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 14, 2019
Williams is in line for a much bigger role in his second season in Boston compared to his rookie campaign. Last season, Williams played in just 32 games, while posting 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.