More: On Carsen Edwards' workload next season

As multi-year starter and captain P.J. Thompson departs, questions will be raised for Purdue at the position where questions are generally least welcomed: Point guard.

Is it Nojel Eastern, who was the Boilermakers' No. 2 at the position as a freshman, as a non-traditional sort of player in that role? He can play several other positions as a 6-foot-6, 220-some-pounder and likely will throughout his career.

Or is it Carsen Edwards, the All-American who'll have the ball in his hands as much as he can handle?

The answer to both, most likely: Yes.

The reality for Purdue will be that both Eastern and Edwards should both play the roles of primary ball-handler for the Boilermakers and Matt Painter, a coach whose traditional motion system has generally spread out ball-handling and decision-making responsibilities all over the lineup. In Painter's 14 seasons as head coach at his alma mater, the primary point guard has led the team in total assists seven times. The point guard hasn't led Purdue in assists since Ronnie Johnson in 2013-2014.

Johnson, whose two-year career at Purdue ended when he transferred to Houston after his sophomore season, was the Boilermakers' last truly dribble-penetration-oriented point guard. Holdover Brandon McKnight, who started in Painter's first season in '05, and multi-year starter Lewis Jackson would be the others.

Whether it's Eastern or Edwards initiating Purdue's offense next season, this should be one the most penetration-driven offenses Painter's ever had, at least from the backcourt.

It's Eastern's strength as a scorer, his ability to use his towering size and deft ball-handling to breach defenses and get to the basket. And, obviously, Edwards' quickness and explosiveness are top-shelf in college basketball.

Eastern said he expects Purdue's offense to be more ball-screen-oriented after years of the Boilermakers playing so often to set up traditional post-ups. Not exclusively, but a lot.

It's a reasonable bet, because pick-and-roll would theoretically play to this roster's strengths more than it would have in past years.

Edwards can be a terror offensively when he gets downhill against a defense, because of his burst to the rim, explosiveness at said rim, and quick-trigger pull-up jumper.

Purdue wasn't a ball-screen offense by nature last season — it was roughly 11 percent of its overall offense — but Edwards was featured, accounting for most of that usage. On the 143 possessions in which he handled the ball in pick-and-roll, Purdue averaged 1.14 points per possession, putting it in Synergy Sports' 98th percentile nationally.

Ball screens play to Edwards' strengths, though the flip side of that is that they'd present the risk of crowding a player who's outstanding in open space, too. A ball screen naturally brings a second defender to the scene.

"Ball screens are good because they kind of get the defense off balance," Edwards said, "especially the guy in front of you, unless they switch. But (if they don't switch) if they set a screen, (the defender) is already on your hip, so now you're playing five-on-four.

Then he smiles.

"But I don't mind one-on-one either."

(On 44 iso possessions, Edwards led Purdue to a 1.068 PPP clip.)

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But pick-and-roll would also work toward the strengths of new No. 1 center Matt Haarms, whose mobility as a screener and diver gave the Boilermakers a valuable different look from Isaac Haas last season and will now will provide Purdue its primary look. Haarms' effect on Purdue's NCAA Tournament win over Butler was profound.

But plays start in the backcourt, and it'll be Eastern and Edwards playing that role, a role that could be the catalyst for a bit of a different philosophy. Purdue never really played as slow as it was generally perceived to when it had massive post players, but now it's more fleet-footed top to bottom, with one of the fastest guards in college basketball.

"We're really athletic and one thing I think we're going to try to really do is run," Eastern said. "Get the rebound, get the board and try to push it in transition to try to get easy layups."

The dynamic between Eastern and Edwards in the context of the point guard position could be non-traditional.

When Painter recruited Eastern, he pitched him a blueprint of him sharing the backcourt with Edwards and the matchups being traded off between the two, that Edwards would defend the point guard on defense and Eastern would guard away from the ball, and on offense, Eastern would run the point and Edwards would play the 2.

Such scenarios could unfold this season more so than they did this past season, when Eastern came off the bench in every game and played just 12.1 minutes for the season, but more in Big Ten play.

Late in the season especially, Eastern looked like a defensive game-changer for the Boilermakers against bigger guards, while Edwards is especially well-suited physically to defend the 1.

That arrangement could be a significant part of how Purdue manages its matchups in the backcourt.

While Purdue's point guards' roles have been unburdened to some extent by offensive philosophy, the onus has remained significant in two other areas: Defense and leadership.

When Purdue's been at its best under Painter, it's possessed strong leadership at the point guard spot.

That will be an area of focus for both its returning point guard candidates this season.

"I just look at it as an opportunity to show I can be ... the leader I will be and have always wanted to be," said Eastern, probably a safe bet to be a multi-year captain at Purdue.

For Edwards, it's typically ideal for a team's top player to also be one of its foremost leaders.

Not always the most outgoing or extroverted individual by his own admission — though that nature is belied by his on-court charisma and intensity — Edwards says he'll go the route of example-driven leadership, leading through "handling my business."

"If I do the right thing, I believe people will follow me," Edwards said. "I feel like that's the best way to do it, so I'm going to continue to do me, and do the right things on the floor and off the floor and listen to the coaches. I think I can lead that way, by example."

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