Jayson Tatum announcement that he is leaving Boston Celtics now another significant issue for team….

After the summer the Boston Celtics have had, Jayson Tatum isn’t surprised they’re entering this season with a spotlight fixed on them.

“People expect us to get to the championship and win,” Tatum said Monday. “And if we don’t, we didn’t necessarily meet expectations.

That’s because during an offseason full of movement around the NBA, the Celtics were among the league’s busiest teams.

In June, they parted ways with defensive stalwart and emotional leader Marcus Smart in a three-team deal that netted them big man Kristaps Porzingis.

The following month, All-Star Jaylen Brown received the richest contract in NBA history when he signed a five-year supermax extension.

Then, Sunday on the eve of training camp Boston made another blockbuster move. This time trading reigning Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon and rim protector Robert Williams III to Portland in exchange for five-time all-defensive selection Jrue Holiday.

It’s shaken up the core for a team that came up a game short last season of a second straight trip to the NBA Finals. But as much as things have changed over the past few months in Boston, one thing continues to ring true: The Celtics will eventually only go as far as Tatum can take them.

It’s a burden the four-time All-Star says he is ready and willing to confront.

“Is it pressure? Yeah,” Tatum said. “There’s a handful of teams each year that realistically can probably win the championship. And we’re in that mix. That’s what we’re aiming for. And that’s where we should be aiming.

Tatum, a three-time All-NBA selection, will enter his seventh season as the Celtics’ second-longest tenured player behind only Brown.

And as much as additions like Holiday and Porzingis were executed to bolster the franchise in the long term, it will also immediately lift the leadership responsibilities for Tatum higher than ever.

Though Tatum has received criticism in the past for not being a vocal star, he says it won’t be a new hat for him to wear.