Minutes have come few and far between for Boston Celtics rookie shooting guard R.J. Hunter this season. However, with the team struggling to shoot the ball from three-point range, it is only a matter of time before the Georgia State product works his way into the rotation of head coach Brad Stevens as the Celtics chase the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
With the likes of shooting guard Avery Bradley (44% from the three-point arc in February) and small forward Jae Crowder (50% from the field in February) shooting the lights out as Boston steamrolled their way through the competition throughout the month of February, their was little opportunity for Hunter to insert his way into the swing of things, with playing time coming sparingly and generally only when the Celtics held an insurmountable lead late in games.
The 28th pick by general manager Danny Ainge in the 2015 draft, Hunter, who has posted season averages of 2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per contest, received a combined 6.8 minutes in January and February, failing to record a single point in either month after a 4.1 points-per game average in eight December appearances and a 2.8 points-per game mark in 13 showings in November.
While Hunter has shot just 28% over the course of the season from three-point range, the culprit is a lack of opportunity, chances which should multiply down the stretch as the Celtics attempt to deal with ravaging injuries and poor shooting from a few key stalwarts in their rotation.
Here's that RJ Hunter trey to end the third: https://t.co/M3pDgDZaRM
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 19, 2016
With the absence of Crowder for at least another week due to a nagging ankle injury and the plummeting of Bradley’s shooting from beyond the arc (29% in the month of March), opportunities should be opening up for Hunter to state his claim to become a vital member of the Celtics rotation, and he deserves to at least make his statement.
Boston drafted Hunter for the sole purpose of filling the void of spot-up shooter on their squad. While the 6’5″, 185-pounder might not be as apt on the defensive end as Bradley of second-year guard Marcus Smart (shooting 20% from three-point land in March), Hunter provides the Celtics with the shooting capability that is a necessity if the team wishes to challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers or Toronto Raptors in the second round of the playoffs this spring.
In today’s NBA, it is evident that postseason wins are sensationally hard to come by if a knockdown spot-up shooter is not present. Think of teams like the San Antonio Spurs (Danny Green), the Cavaliers (J.R. Smith), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (Dion Waiters, Brandon Morrow, Randy Foye), all primary contenders who employ substantial minutes to wing players purely based on their ability to convert on open looks from deep, shots that the team can trust Hunter to make.
The Oxford, Oh. native underlined his ability to do just that in the Celtics’ defeat at the hands of the Raptors last Friday night north of the border.
Hunter converted on both of his three-point attempts in 14 minutes on the night, a showing which included a deep three from the wing with the team down 30-14 in the second quarter and a crucial knockdown from the corner off of a brilliant drive-and-kick feed from point guard Isaiah Thomas to send the Celtics to the fourth quarter trailing by just 79-74.
While small forward Jonas Jerebko has shot well from beyond the arc in March, hitting 40% of his three-point attempts after converting on an astounding 57% of his treys in December and 47% in January, keep in mind that the Swede knocked down just 29% of his threes in increased minutes in February and is dealing with a hampering achilles injury which has kept him out of three consecutive contests.
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Unless Bradley and Smart can resurrect their reliability from outside, Jerebko cannot be the only consistent three-point shooter in the Celtics rotation. Should Stevens wish to fix his teams recent offensive efficiency woes (18th in the NBA from March 1-19), increasing Hunter’s minutes would be a good start.