Forsberg: Ranking the young role players for the Celtics
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Tuesday that, despite being without Kemba Walker at the start of the year, the team has no immediate plans to add veteran depth to the roster.Ainge said the Celtics plan to see what they’ve got among the gaggle of young bodies at the end of the bench with hopes that more consistent playing time could allow some of those guys to flourish."This is an opportunity league, and there’s nothing I like more than when guys who don’t get a chance to play get a chance to step up and play,” said Ainge.So which “young” players — and we’ll obviously remove Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart from this conversation -- are most likely to earn a bigger role this season?Let’s rank the field.
Some of Boston’s best minutes inside the bubble came with Williams on the floor and there were a lot of positives for him to build off -- not the least of which was shooting 58.8 percent beyond the 3-point arc (10 of 17 overall).
Might Williams elevate to a starting role, playing more power forward in traditional two-big lineups? Williams has the versatility to switch onto perimeter players and having a more traditional center alongside would limit the amount of times he’s giving up size against big 5s.
Still, his offensive game must develop or teams will simply challenge him to hit shots and put more attention on Tatum and Brown. An encouraging stat: The Celtics were 21-5 in the 26 regular-season games in which Williams played at least 17 minutes.
Sidelined yet again to start the season, Langford’s No. 1 priority is getting — and staying — healthy. The Celtics announced this week that he remains on track to return four to five months after a Sept. 22 surgery, which puts him on pace to return as early as late January.
We’d go so far as to wonder if Langford could have been a Hayward replacement in the starting lineup if he hadn’t been so injury prone through the early stages of his NBA career.
Langford has been solid enough defensively to win Brad Stevens’ trust and has potential to be a really impactful offensive player based on his ability to handle the ball and play in the pick-and-roll. He could slot well in that 2-guard role if he can stay on the court.
Look, readers know how I feel about Time Lord. I think he can be a key rotation piece this year if he tightens up his defensive discipline and simply leans on his natural talents. Even if Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis split the majority of center minutes, and even if Grant Williams plays a bigger role, there’s going to be opportunities for Rob Williams to assert himself.
It’s critical that he do such in his third season. Theis is a free agent at season’s end, and if the Celtics can’t splurge to keep him around, then they need someone like Rob Williams ready to elevate.
If nothing else, the Celtics have to figure out what they’ve got in Williams. Is he a piece of this young core moving forward? A tradable asset they could bundle with the Hayward trade exception? The team needs to determine that by letting him play through some bumps in the road.
Forsberg: What are realistic options for Boston's TPE?
We’re slotting Pritchard high based largely on need. With Walker likely sidelined for the first month of the season, the Celtics need ball-handlers. The Celtics can bump Marcus Smart to a starting role and potentially utilize newcomer Jeff Teague off the bench, but there’s still going to be a handful of minutes each night for a depth option to run with the second unit.
Pritchard is going to get an early chance to prove he can bring Smart-like grit to the court. Danny Ainge loves the way he plays and whispers from inside the Auerbach Center suggested Pritchard made a quality first impression on the court after arriving in town.
His role could evaporate once Walker is healthy but he’s going to get tossed right in the fire early.
Nesmith’s first-year role will depend on two factors: 1) Can he step in and immediately be a consistent 3-point threat? and 2) Can he maximize his length while getting his feet wet on the defensive end at the NBA level?
If he makes 38 percent of his 3-pointers and isn’t a defensive liability, we could see him getting plenty of run. If he endures some rookie struggles with that 3-point shot, it could be a slower build.
Regardless, the Celtics need offense from their bench and even the threat of shooting could be enough to earn Nesmith a rotation role, especially with Walker and Langford out to start the year.
The Celtics adding a veteran point guard and drafting another ball-handler isn’t great news for Waters, who was a G-League darling and showed playmaking potential during his NBA cameos.
Alas, there’s genuine concerns about his size and his ability to consistently create his own offense. He’s got the benefit of a year in the system over Pritchard but Waters -- back on a 2-way deal -- has to take better care of the ball when he’s on the court and make shots more consistently.
It’s easy to write off Edwards after his first-year struggles. He shot just 31.6 percent beyond the arc and basically disappeared from the rotation by mid-December.
Boston’s need for shooting and his obvious potential is going to afford Edwards a chance to prove he can more consistently be the offensive threat we saw in college. But he’s going to have to make hay early or he runs the risk of fading into obscurity again.
Is it right to put a 27-year-old on a list of "young guys?" I mean, he’s older than every player in the Tatum/Brown/Smart core. We didn’t include Semi Ojeleye on this list and he’s only 25. We’re doing it anyway.
A non-guaranteed contract means Green's roster spot is tenuous at best, but Hayward’s departure left the team thin on wings and Green can state a case for time if he really embraces using his athleticism to be an impact defender.
We all know what he can do with his hops on the offensive end but being able to harness that athleticism and pester opposing wings is what will really catch Stevens’ attention.
There will always be a great curiosity with Fall’s development. Hopefully by the end of the season there are fans in the stands at TD Garden to chant for his late-game insertion.
But even after Boston trimmed at the end of its depth chart (Vincent Poirier), it’s hard to see Fall in more than small blips.
