Celtics forward Jayson Tatum announced himself a superstar of the future with a thrilling rookie year in Boston. 

The former Duke star carried his team at times during their deep playoff run and came into serious Rookie of the Year consideration before losing out to Ben Simmons. 

Tatum's dynamic game and scoring ability were a joy to watch and he's got a huge future ahead of him. 

After falling to the Cavaliers in seven games of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics are all in on taking the next step this coming season. 

And, with LeBron James leaving the conference to head out West for the Lakers, they'll be firm favourites to represent the East in the Finals, especially with All Star duo Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving returning to the lineup. 

Tatum was the go-to guy in big moments in the absence of Irving and Hayward, and one former Celtic thinks the pair's return will actually hamper the young star's development. 

Speaking to Brian Robb of the Boston Sports Journal, Celtics legend Paul Pierce shared his opinion on the 20-year-old and his enormous potential. 

“I don’t think we are truly going to see Jayson Tatum’s talent anytime soon,” Pierce said.

'The Truth' believes that's the case because there are simply too many talented players on the roster as of now for Tatum to get the chance to shine individually. 

And whilst it's great for the Celtics that he doesn't need to take over games by himself or dominate the ball in order for them to win games, it sure would be fun to see him let loose as the man sooner rather than later. 

Kyrie Irving will own that mantle though, and Hayward won't be far behind him, but Tatum could turn out to be better than both of them. His two-way potential is enormous due to his athleticism and versatile scoring ability and he gives huge effort on both ends of the floor. 

In that way he reminds one of Kawhi Leonard, only with more hop and juice offensively. 

It might be true that his ceiling could be restricted by the presence of so many other talented players around him, but you'd have to think the man himself would rather win a title as a second or third option at this stage of his career than post big numbers and not complete for championships. 

Pierce's take won't be popular, but he's probably right, and it'd be a shame to never see Tatum getting the chance to 'the guy' and truly explore the limits of his exceptional talent.