3 Celtics most impacted by the Kyrie Irving trade.

There is still a fair amount of shock in Boston after the trade that brought Kyrie Irving to Boston. With all but four members of last year’s team coming back, there are a lot of questions about who will be filling key roles on the Celtics this season.

I tackled that on Boston.com today by outlining the three players most impacted by the trade.

Jaylen Brown

[…] In a recent podcast appearance, Brad Stevens told Chris Mannix in no uncertain terms that Brown would have to become a “lockdown defender” this season. Not only will the Celtics need to fill Crowder’s defensive loss on the wing, they’ll still need someone to help out on the perimeter.

Some of the backcourt questions will be similar in the post-Thomas era. Aside from height, there is no real defensive upgrade in Irving over Thomas at the point guard position. While there is an inherent advantage in playing a 6’3” player rather than a 5’9” player at that spot, the Celtics will still have to find ways to hide Irving defensively.

Starting the 6’7” Brown on the perimeter alongside Irving gives the Celtics a long, versatile defender who can switch onto guards and forwards. Brown could be asked to check either opposing guard to start games while the Celtics toggle between Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris to match up in the frontcourt.

Go ahead and check out the link to see the next two guys I think will be impacted. Feel free to leave your own list in the comments below.