The Boston Celtics are surely happy with their decision to trade down from the No. 1 overall pick in last year's NBA Draft and select Jayson Tatum.

Tatum has emerged as an optimal role player, complimenting the already competent team in place in Boston. He's showing signs of being an elite role player of sorts already, especially when it comes to his outside shooting where he is hitting 47.5 percent.

This is just the beginning for Tatum as it is for any rookie. After 39 games into his career, nearly half of a season, head coach Brad Stevens is looking forward to unlocking more aspects of his game, via Jay King of MassLive.com:

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“One of the things that we don’t want to do is hurt his productivity on both ends,” Stevens said today. “And we want to make sure he continues to grow on both ends.”

Tatum has shown flashes of someone that can be more than just a spot-up shooter and slasher. He has the ability to create as well and the frame and athleticism to do damage defensive too. For the time being, the Celtics will likely be at their best with Kyrie Irving running the show, but it will only help to slowly increase the load for Tatum and explore what else he may be capable of.