3 players in line to break the Boston Celtics three-point record
We all knew when Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were drafted in back-to-back years that the Boston Celtics were going to be a special team for years to come.
Since then, Brown and Tatum evolved into the new pillars of the most historic franchise in the history of the NBA, and are working towards raising the 18th banner to the already crowded TD Garden rafters.
The Boston Celtics are bound to have a new franchise leader in three-pointers when it’s all said and done. Three current players are in line to do just that.
A player who’s going to help them accomplish that goal is someone who’s wanted to do nothing but win. This player has been in Boston for the entirety of both Brown and Tatum’s careers and is the longest-tenured player on the team – Marcus Smart.
Smart has evolved and improved his overall game each season since being drafted by the Celtics in 2014. In doing so, he’s now heavily involved in the offense while remaining the defensive specialist that he always has been.
Throughout his entire eight-year career with the Celtics, Smart has climbed the ladder to be one of the most respected players in recent history, similar to Brown and Tatum.
That said, the three franchise players share a place in the Celtics history books, one that may come off surprising to some. Tatum, Smart, and Brown are ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, on the Celtics’ all-time three-point list.
Not to mention, they share the top ten with some elite company:
- Paul Pierce – 1823
- Antoine Walker – 937
- Ray Allen – 798
- Jayson Tatum – 761
- Marcus Smart – 758
- Jaylen Brown – 680
- Larry Bird – 649
- Avery Bradley – 520
- Isaiah Thomas – 460
- Walter McCarty – 417
If someone is ever to top Pierce, it’s going to have to be by someone who spends his entire career with the Celtics. It’s crazy to think that Brown and Tatum have cracked the list in just five and six years, however, they both need over 1,000 more three-pointers to be the franchise leader.
With Smart and Tatum being neck-and-neck with each other, it’s going to come down to who’s more consistent for one of them to pull themselves apart. Chances are, Tatum will land third in franchise history by the end of this season, as he only needs 37 more threes to surpass Ray Allen.
Using this logic, if Tatum does surpass Allen for third all-time, Smart will then also move up in the history books, leaping Allen for fourth all-time, as he and Tatum are only three three-pointers apart from each other.
Considering the way Smart created a negative offensive reputation for himself to start his career, it’s amazing that he’s made over 700 three-pointers in his career. For him to even be in this conversation as the greatest three-point shooter in Boston Celtics history is crazy.
Brown is a little further behind at this point to think he’d eventually surpass the five guys in front of him. If anything, Brown could eventually surpass Smart, but once again, it depends on how long any of these players will stay in Boston in order to do so.
If Tatum spends his entire career with the Celtics, there’s a great chance that he will eventually become the all-time three-point leader for the Boston Celtics.
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