You wouldn't take Tatum over Horford? I would build a team around Tatum before Horford for sure. As of right now, I'd prefer Horford at the 4 vs. Tatum when it comes to rebounding/defense/setting screens/stretching out the other team's bigs...but that's about it. And Al cannot even defend Tatum on the perimeter and would be in trouble with a smaller player off a screen too. Like I said...apples and oranges.
It's not apples and oranges. Horford was better than Tatum last year. It's fine to hope that Tatum is better this year, but there's a difference between hope and analysis.
And Hayward > Richards every day of the week and twice on Sundays...even the Hayward of 2018-2019.
See, when you find yourself writing something like that, you need to realize that you've lost your analysis. Hayward was mostly dogshit last year.
I think you are massively underrating Tatum/Brown/Hayward as I expect all 3 to be one of our top 4 scorers/mpg guys along with Walker. Last year, we force fed Hayward before moving him to the bench and also had to bench Brown so he wouldn't be playing with Kyrie. Then there was Tatum settling for mid range J's. Kyrie really affected this team more than people think he did, IMO. Irving is massively talented, but the offense flowed through him first and foremost.
And I think I'm rating them just where they were last year, save possible small adjustments based upon a reasonable likelihood, and should be considered until proven otherwise. That's analysis. Minor comments like "Tatum had a down year last year, and we should be able to expect at least some bounce back this year" are sensible analysis. Comments like "Tatum is going to be better than Horford, as a PF, because Horford's changed from 32yo to 33yo!" aren't. And "IF" goes both ways:
IF Embiid keeps getting better
IF Al plays more freely now that he's back at the 4
IF Simmons shoots just a little bit better
IF Tatum doesn't improve more than marginally
IF Hayward doesn't bounce all the way back
IF the Celtics center position sucks as much as it might
IF the Celtics power forward position sucks as much as it might
etc....
v.
IF Hayward b0unces back to being the old Hayward
IF Tatum takes a big leap forward
IF Brown keeps showing improvement
IF having Walker becomes a matter of fit being better than talent
IF Tacko doesn't fail
IF the Celtics center position doesn't suck
IF the Celtics power forward position actually is a net positive
IF the Celtics can find a way to hold its own on the boards
IF Stevens can modify his system enough for the new group of players to function at a high level
IF Embiid breaks down
IF Philly doesn't round out its depth
IF Simmons still can't hit a shot from beyond 5-6 feet
etc...