Celtics Fans Will Love Paul Pierce’s ‘Easy’ Pick For NBA Championship

The Boston Celtics overhauled their roster in the offseason with the intention of raising Banner No. 18.

Because of the changes, Celtics legend Paul Pierce said Boston is the "easy" pick to win the NBA title when he joined Skip Bayless and Keyshawn Johnson on "Undisputed" on Tuesday.

"This is an easy one, Skip, easy and I'm not being a homer," Pierce said. "The Boston Celtics easily have the best starting five in all of basketball."

Pierce added: "Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are coming into their prime as we speak. We saw what they're capable of."

Even with the subtractions of Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III, Pierce believes the Celtics only got better by adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.

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"Jrue Holiday, a veteran leader who replaces Marcus Smart," Pierce said. "... A guy with championship pedigree. They got to be the favorite. What other starting five is better than the Boston Celtics?"

When Johnson picked the Milwaukee Bucks to come out of the East, Pierce immediately poked holes in the Super Bowl champion's rationale and fiercely defended Tatum when Johnson questioned the Celtics star of not being a player the team can count on night after night.

"The Celtics are the worst possible matchup for Milwaukee," Pierce explained. "They got two dynamic athletic wings (Tatum and Brown). Who on Milwaukee can guard them?

"We are not going to talk about Tatum not being that clutch guy or is he going to show up," Pierce added. "We're not talking about James Harden. The subject is over. We're talking about Tatum -- he shows up."

Pierce was adamant that the Celtics would come out of the East and picked the Phoenix Suns as their opponent in the NBA Final, even without Chris Paul.

"The way the game is played today, (teams) don't need a traditional point guard anymore," Pierce said. "... We're getting guys that can make plays with or without the ball. We don't need a guy, an assist man to set up to get us in our spots. That's no longer needed in today's game. If we got a guard who's dynamic, who can shoot, who can make plays; that's all you really need."

The Celtics will get their first shot at showing the league and its fans that they are the top contender in the Eastern Conference when they travel to the Big Apple to take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in their season opener on Wednesday night.