Fansided

The Whiteboard: The Boston Celtics backcourt will be the best in the East

By Ti Windisch

BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 25: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics share a handshake during the game against the Washington Wizards on December 25, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 25: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics share a handshake during the game against the Washington Wizards on December 25, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Celtics backcourt, whatever it ends up being, will be the best in the Eastern Conference.

One half of the Boston Celtics backcourt is pretty easy to figure out. Kyrie Irving will definitely be the Celtics’ starting point guard whenever he’s healthy. The other half is a little more tricky to decipher at this point.

One of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward will be slotted in as Boston’s starting shooting guard. In Brad Stevens’ modern scheme it won’t really matter who it is, and whoever is picked for that spot next to Kyrie will make up one half of the Eastern Conference’s best backcourt.

That sounds like a bold statement, but looking around the rest of the East it really isn’t. The beautiful Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan partnership was broken up by the Raptors this summer, leaving the Washington Wizards as the premier backcourt in the East (aside from Boston).

The only other real contender is the Indiana Pacers, with their combination of Darren Collison and Victor Oladipo. Washington and Indiana have very solid backcourts, especially for this conference, but neither of them are as solid as Boston. No matter which option Stevens goes with, the Celtics will have an all-around great guard combination.

If it’s Brown, his defense will complement Kyrie’s offense to make them a terrific dual threat. If it’s Tatum, both players will be offensive weapons who can attack defenses in different ways. Hayward is a legitimate star, so throwing him back there obviously makes a top-tier backcourt.

Hot take alert: the Celtics are going to be good.

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