BOSTON -- It'd be easy for Jayson Tatum to believe his own hype. Consider this series of events before the Boston Celtics' 19-year-old rookie, the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft, has even played his first real NBA game:

(1) After watching the pingpong balls defy the Celtics for decades during the draft lottery, Danny Ainge finally landed the No.1 overall pick (assist to the Brooklyn Nets) then promptly traded it -- and the right to select presumed top pick Markelle Fultz -- while shuffling back two spots and picking up a future asset. Ainge later suggested he would have taken Tatum at No. 1 even if the Celtics had not moved back.

(2) In his first summer league game, playing against Fultz and the Philadelphia 76ers, no less, Tatum hit a step-back jumper in the final seconds to lift Boston to victory. The highlight got heavy air time on SportsCenter over the next 24 hours and talking heads debated whether Tatum could be the next Paul Pierce.

(3) Pierce unexpectedly dropped by the Celtics' training facility this summer, showed Tatum a blank banner hanging in the corner, and said it was his job to help fill it in. Afterward, Pierce told NBC Sports Boston that Tatum has the sort of skills that Pierce didn't develop until six or seven years into his NBA career (by which point he was a multiple-time All-Star averaging as much as 26.1 points per game).

(4) Kyrie Irving, still getting settled after the late-August trade that delivered him to Boston, was asked a rather benign question about Tatum's potential and proceeded to gush about the rookie for nearly a full minute while declaring that the "sky is the limit" for Tatum. Irving added that he's "serious when I tell you guys that that dude is a bad dude."

(5) On the second day of training camp in Newport, Rhode Island, after Tatum had started to distinguish himself with his natural feel for the game, 11-year NBA veteran Al Horford suggested that Tatum is, "as ready as I've seen any rookie." Pressed on whether Tatum will be able to contribute in his first season, Horford didn't hesitate with his response: "No question."

And yet, when all of this is presented to Tatum, he offers a half smile and shrugs.

"I know I have to come in here every day and just work," said Tatum, downplaying all the chatter about his potential. "I need to do the small things and do what's best for the team.

On this day, the soft-spoken Duke product has had a rough go in one-on-one drills while working against teammates Jaylen Brown (the No. 3 pick in the 2016 draft) and Marcus Smart (the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft) and would prefer to be getting up some extra jumpers rather than trying to help a reporter determine whether we need to slow down a hype train that Tatum's not even certain he deserves.

"Most guys in my position don't get drafted to such a high-caliber team like the Celtics, so it makes me work harder because I have to compete and earn everything," he said.

As he talks, Tatum's eyes are glued to Brown, who has returned to the floor for some shots following their one-on-one battles. The two were fast friends this summer, especially having already crossed paths during their high school days. Brown knows all about what Tatum is about to experience and is eager to help him along the way.