Player Grades: Spurs 95 – Celtics 93

James Young

Grade: B-

16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists

5-14 shooting, 2-7 3pt, 4-5 ft

James Young’s summer league, and in large part his NBA career so far, has been disappointing. At Kentucky, Young was the team’s number one option, accustomed to facilitating the offense, often with the ball in his hand. In the NBA, where he wasn’t projected to be a number one option – at least for the foreseeable future – he had to relegate himself into purely a shooter.

He’s essentially the same player as R.J. Hunter, who at this point, is making a better case for himself than Young.

Celtics fans were optimistic about Young coming into summer league, as reports suggested he’d gain a significant amount of muscle after last season concluded. It’s had a positive impact on Young’s game as it’s lead to Young playing more aggressively.

*(I apologize for the glare. It’s sunny out an I’m indoors writing.)

While wings would typically transition back on defense here, Young sees his assignment Jarrell Eddie grab the rebound, and recognizes he’s not immediately needed on D, so he exploits this by chasing the offensive board. Young out-muscles the 6’7″ Eddie and is able to get an easy bucket thanks to this aggression.

Young would end up leading the team with 9 rebounds – perhaps a side-effect of his newfound strength.

The reason Young was selected 17th overall though, was for his shooting. Going 5-14 from the field isn’t encouraging for Celtics fans to see. However, the problem isn’t his shot itself. He has good form and whenever he’s open, it goes in at an acceptable rate.

The issue is two-fold: shot-selection and ability to create shots.

San Antonio’s Kyle Anderson is right in front of his face when he takes the above shot with 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock. With that much time left on the shot clock, the right call is for Young to dribble around that screen. He could have easily taken a better shot if he had just crossed over once to avoid Anderson’s contest. While being a lefty makes going to his right side difficult for Young, the issue is his inability to create off the dribble. His first-step – while fast enough in college – is far too slow to beat defenders off the dribble.

While Young ultimately proved clutch this game with the above three, he was given 23 minutes tonight to make an impact. This season, if Young receives minutes, he’ll be expected to hit open shots in the limited time he receives. Therefore, he’ll need to hit these wide open shots if he wants to crack the rotation.

As it stands, Hunter’s eating Young’s lunch. If Young doesn’t just want to be an above-average D-League player, he’ll need to work on his defense, consistency, and ability to create off the dribble.

Next: Player Grades: Terry Rozier