Boston Celtics legend and current ESPN analyst Paul Pierce says the Brooklyn Nets should play Kyrie Irving at the shooting guard spot next to Spencer Dinwiddie when he returns from his shoulder injury.

Dinwiddie has been starting at point guard for the Nets while Irving has been out. He's averaging 24.3 points and 7.4 assists since Irving was shut down:

“I think you got to play them both. And I really think Kyrie is a better player off the ball because Dinwiddie has been in the system for a year, they really had fun last year, they went to the playoffs, so they’re really used to him playing with that core group,” Pierce said on ESPN's The Jump, via Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “Now Kyrie played his best basketball with Cleveland, with LeBron being the primary ball-handler.

“So I look at him and Dinwiddie should be the guy who manages the game. Kyrie is a better scorer so put him at the two-guard. I think it would go better that way than with Kyrie being the primary ballhandler. Because he likes to go into his shake-and-bake, guys are watching and not touching the ball. So I like him better at the 2 next to Dinwiddie.”

The Nets are 15-12 on the season. They are in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

No one knows when Irving will return to the lineup. On the season, Irving is averaging 28.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 34.1 percent from beyond the arc and 93.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Brooklyn is 4-7 when Irving plays.