Three ways Jayson Tatum must get better for the Celtics

Kyrie Irving is in Brooklyn. Al Horford resides in Philadelphia. Boston Celtics wing Jayson Tatum is one step closer to being the face of the franchise.

Now that Kyrie Irving plays in Brooklyn and Al Horford resides in Philadelphia, Boston Celtics wing Jayson Tatum is one step closer to being the face of the franchise. While newcomer Kemba Walker will start the season as the best player on the team, Tatum has the chance to show the NBA that he is ready to play consistently at an All-Star level. After an excellent rookie season, Tatum didn't show marked improvement in his second campaign. Here are three ways he can improve his game and take the next step in his career.

Re-Discover His 3-Point Shot

To be fair to Tatum, it's not as though he completely lost his 3-point range. In his second season, the Duke product shot 37.3 percent from downtown. Most players would be happy to end the season with a percentage this high. The league average is around 35 percent, so 37 would put Tatum ahead of most of his peers. However, Tatum's goal is not to be a slightly above-average player, and he has shown the ability to be an excellent shooter. In his rookie season, Tatum shot 43.4 percent from three, which means he dropped a whopping six percent from deep in one year. Going into his third year, Tatum will need to be a better shooter than ever to cover for the losses of Irving (40.1 percent from three) and Horford (37 percent from three).

Shot Selection/Aggressiveness

Tatum already has one of the strongest isolation games in the league. The Celtics feel comfortable throwing the 6'8 forward the ball and letting him go to work, no matter who is guarding him. Tatum's silky smooth mid-range jumper allows him to be deadly when 15-20 feet from the basket. However, Tatum might rely too much on this shot. He is too comfortable settling for long jumpers instead of putting his head down and getting to the rim. This is evident in his extremely low free throw numbers. Tatum attempted just under three free throws a game last season. As the Celtics' second option on offense, Tatum needs to attack the rim more and get to the stripe, where he shoots an excellent 85.5 percent.

Pick-and-Roll Ballhandling

Tatum is a good finisher at the rim, but he struggles to create as the handler in the pick and roll. Thankfully, Walker will be handling most of these duties for Boston, but Tatum will also be expected to be proficient when the former Charlotte guard is off the floor.

Per NBA Stats, Tatum currently ranks in the top 70th percentile as the handler in a pick and roll, and the Celtics score 42.9 percent of the time when he uses a pick. While these are good numbers, Tatum can definitely improve them with his impressive basketball IQ, vision, and height. If Tatum can develop this facet of his game, the Celtics will have yet another weapon at their disposal rather than just using Tatum in isolation, a cutter, or a spot-shooter. Being able to develop more offensive options and a larger offensive capacity can help the Celtics ward off the scoring droughts which hurt them in their second-round playoff series loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.