Lester Hudson: Let The Man Play

With the 58th pick in the 2009 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics select Lester Hudson from the University of Tennessee-Martin. These were the words said when the Boston Celtics turn came up during the 2009 NBA draft. The Boston Celtics used their only pick in the draft to pick up Lester Hudson, a young guard who made history in college by recording the NCAA’s first ever quadruple-double.

Since being drafted that day Hudson has signed a contract with the Boston Celtics and wears the green uniform proudly. The sad thing is that he is usually wearing it proudly on the bench while watching his teammates win basketball games.

It is very hard for a unproven young play like Lester to get quality minutes on a team as deep as the Celtics. I do think however that there is room on the team for Lester to get more minutes. The recent injury to Marquis Daniels (hand) really got my hopes up for seeing this young gun play some quality minutes. So far Doc has not chosen to go with Lester off the bench except for in garbage time, like in last night’s blowout win over Chicago.

Instead of bringing the rookie into the game when it matters, Doc has chosen to go with the recently activated Tony Allen and knock-down shooter Eddie House. The problem I have with this is that neither one of these guys are true point guards, and to take it to another level, Marquis Daniels isn’t a true point guard.

If Doc could start working Lester into the rotation with the guards it would allow both Eddie House and Marquis Daniels to play their true positions. Eddie at the shooting guard getting open for shots off the pass, and Marquis Daniels at small forward helping to limit Paul Pierce’s minutes.

It all seems like a perfect scenario but I still think Doc questions whether Lester could handle the quality minutes at guard, being a rookie and all. The problem that I have with all this is that Lester is just sitting on the bench, and for lack of better words, rusting away. This kid is young, he needs to play, he needs to build his confidence, and he needs to get accustomed to the flow of NBA games. The way Doc is using him right now is doing no good for this kid’s future.

My plan: Send him to Portland. For those of you not familiar the Celtics now have a D-League team, the Maine Red Claws, which is located in Portland, Maine. Celtics forward Bill Walker is currently averaging 29.4 minutes a game,  19 points and 7.6 rebounds a game for the Red Claws. Walker is getting quality playing time and reminding himself that he still has it when it comes to the game of basketball.

So why not let young Lester Hudson go there and get those kind of minutes every game? To me it only makes sense, considering he hasn’t played more than ten minutes in a game since his college days. Let him go up to Portland and get back into game shape, then bring him back to Boston when he’s needed. If Doc is going to play him that is one thing, but it’s another if he’s just going to sit there and warm the bench.

Photos via Dave Eggen/NBAE/Getty Images and nba.com