5 storylines to watch during Celtics training camp

One of the most anticipated seasons in recent Celtics history has finally arrived as the new-look roster kicks off training camp with a double session in Newport, RI on Tuesday. I'll be live on the scene for Boston Sports Journal all week long at Salve Regina with updates and videos, but let's take a sneak peek at what to look out for as camp gets rolling.

1. Marcus Smart vs. Jaylen Brown for starting shooting guard: Both players have their sights set on the spot, so unless the coaching staff has a combination in mind already, this should be an open competition during the first few weeks of the preseason. Smart is the safer choice given his defensive reliability and experience, but he's a spacing liability on the offensive end until his jump shot proves otherwise. Meanwhile, Brown is talking like someone who expects to defend elite starters on a nightly basis.

"The NBA is full of tremendous talent," Brown said at media day. "Some of the best players in the world and a lot of them are offensively gifted so my job each and every night is to slow whoever the best player on the other team is down."

Brown will get plenty of chances to prove himself against the likes of Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving during training camp. A strong showing there may win him the job.

2. Will a slimmed down Smart live up to the hype? The longest tenured Celtic managed to drop 17 pounds this offseason (to 223 pounds overall), and he's feeling like a new man in his smaller frame.

"[I have] more explosiveness, a lot more quickness laterally, definitely see me being able to guard the guards like John Wall and Bradley Beal, guys like that," Smart said Monday. "I want to go out there and see my energy level stay at a high rate, where it was last year with the extra weight, in the first half I was energy, energy, but by the fourth quarter, I still had the mindset of energy, but my body wouldn’t allow me to do it." 

Smart's teammates are already vouching for the impact the weight loss has made on his game as well.

"He looks good, man," Brown said. "He's moving a lot faster, he's jumping a lot higher. It's kind of weird to see him like that. Like, just imagine you've seen him and now he's 25 pounds lighter and it's like 'Man, who is this guy?' He looks good, he's moving well and he's shooting the ball great. He's athletic...so it's going to be a good year for him."

The Celtics are in dire need of a reliable option to defend speedy opposing point guards, whether it's Brown or Smart. With matchups looming against elite backcourt weapons on the Sixers and Hornets this preseason, Smart will have a chance to prove his improvements carry over against live competition.

3. Will Celtics start big in frontcourt or trend towards smallball? Al Horford played some of the best basketball of his Celtic career last postseason at the center spot, but Brad Stevens veered away from forcing him to guard big centers all year long by starting Amir Johnson alongside him at the 5 during much of the regular season. With a revamped roster, Stevens can safely go in either direction this year. It may be tough to tell early what the coach's preference is with Marcus Morris (a small-ball power forward candidate) likely to miss the first few days of camp due to his trial, but the Celtics should pick a direction here fairly early. Will they go with a more traditional look (Horford PF/Baynes C) or a small-ball offensive powerhouse (Morris/fill-in PF, Horford C)? A glimpse into the early lineups at training camp will give us a good idea which way the team is leaning.

4. Which rookie emerges from the pack? It's a safe guess that Jayson Tatum will be making a measurable impact in the Celtics' rotation at the start of the season. After him, it's anybody's guess who will assert themselves among a crowded field. Guerschon Yabusele, Daniel Theis and Semi Ojeleye will all be competing for potential minutes in the frontcourt in the early going, particularly with Morris set to miss the start of training camp. The Celtics are high on all three players, but there really is only going to be room for one in this team's regular rotation if everyone starts the year healthy. Which player will earn the trust of Stevens to be thrown into the fire right away?

5. Will Kyrie Irving emerge as this team's leader? The pressure is on the 25-year-old point guard, who has been handed the keys to this team by Danny Ainge. Surrounded by All-Stars that lead more with their play than their voices, Irving has an opening here to shape the identity of this new-look roster and lead them to the top of the East.

"This is something that I really enjoy doing, that’s putting the basketball in the hoop at a very high level," Irving explained. "I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a kid and to commit yourself to being the best that you can be, to be able to share that with other individuals to go after a goal that we all collectively share and want to accomplish, there’s nothing like it."

For Irving, the stage is finally set. We will soon find out if he can seize the moment and quiet the critics of his departure from Cleveland.