Celtics: Rookies Will Have Pressure to Produce Right Away

It’s going to be hard for rookies to find valuable minutes on the Celtics next season

The Boston Celtics added three rookies to their roster last season, and none had a significant role until the playoffs. R.J. Hunter saw minutes early in the season but quickly fell out of the rotation. He later rejoined the rotation in the playoffs due to injuries to key players.

Terry Rozier, the Celtics’ first selection last year, finally became a consistent member of the rotation near the end of the season. He ended up averaging 19.8 minutes per game in the playoffs, however, it would have been closer to the eight minute average he saw in the regular season if Avery Bradley didn’t go down with an injury.

The Celtics second round selection Jordan Mickey never cracked the rotation. He dominated the D-League by averaging a double-double and leading the league with 4.4 blocks per game. It wasn’t enough though as he only saw 57 minutes as a rookie, mostly in garbage time.

Boston is facing a lot of choices this off-season that could result in a lot of turnover on their roster. Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko both have player options, Evan Turner is an unrestricted free agent, and Jared Sullinger is a restricted free agent. While all four players are unlikely to return, it would be surprising if not one or two of them did.

Personally, I believe that the Celtics are going to keep Jerebko and re-sign Turner, which could cause a logjam for younger players. There’s no doubt that Boston will make some sort of trade on draft day. It’s inevitable as a team as deep as them can’t roster eight rookies.

Still, for the rookies that are drafted by the Celtics, it’s going to be very hard for them to find minutes and more pressure will be added as a result.

It’s easy to see why Terry Rozier will be involved in trade rumors this off-season. Isaiah Thomas is the star of the team and Marcus Smart has the backup point guard spot locked up. Rozier showed a lot of promise as a rookie, however, he didn’t stand out enough that would warrant him being a lock in the rotation next season. He takes up minutes on a team who doesn’t have a lot to go around, who also need a three-point specialist.

A shooter such as Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, or Denzel Valentine will get a chance as a rookie, cutting into Rozier’s minutes. The Celtics live and die by the three, and it was a very big part of their game since they get open looks in transition. Even though they rely on the long ball, they weren’t a good three-point shooting team. To put in perspective how badly they need a three-point shooter, they attempted 26.1 threes per game last season – 11th most – but only connected on 33.5 percent of them – ranked 28th.

Apr 2, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) drives to the basket against Villanova Wildcats forward Darryl Reynolds (45) during the first halfin the 2016 NCAA Men /

Even with their desperate need for a shooter, the Celtics have a lot of players who do one or two things well, but not many who are considered all-around players, which makes it hard to cut into someone’s minutes. Isaiah Thomas is a great scorer – but not a consistent shooter – and a good passer but isn’t the best defender. Smart is one of the best defensive players in the league and rebounds very well for a guard, however, his offensive game is a liability most of the time.

Therefore, everyone on Boston has a specific role on the team, which is good, except when their missing key roles and there aren’t enough minutes to go around. Also, the Celtics don’t want to give up on their other younger players like R.J. Hunter and Terry Rozier, but, there’s chance their minutes will be cut into for an incoming rookie.

The fact of the matter is rookies won’t have a lot of lee-way. It’s not to say that they need to come in and shoot 50 percent from behind the arc right away, but they can’t struggle as much as Hunter did because they won’t have the chance to get out of their slump.

As far as the front court, it seems that there should be minutes to go around. Jordan Mickey and Kelly Olynyk are the only two under contract right now and neither will see starter minutes. With that being said there is still a strong possibility that the Celtics sign a big man to a max contract this off-season, also, the possibility of trading for Jahlil Okafor or Kenneth Faried is also there.

Drafting Dragan Bender or Marquese Chriss with the third pick is a strong possibility, as well as drafting Domantas Sabonis later in the draft. Their early season minutes will be determined by how busy Boston is for the rest of the off-season.

Even though the Celtics don’t have a deep front court right now, minutes are scarce. It’ll be hard not to give minutes to Mickey since the Celtics are in dire need of a rim protector. Also, Olynyk was the team’s best three-point shooter last season and Jerebko is coming off a very successful postseason.

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The Celtics will also be in the market for a post player on offense during free agency. Signing someone like Al Horford will give the Celtics a star among their mediocre front court.

The pressure will be on the rookies to produce right away because minutes are not easy to come by. The Celtics are one of the deepest teams in the league, however, sometimes it’s not a good thing when you don’t have a lot of versatility.

Although, with the Celtics having such glaring holes, potential rookies should see a little run at the beginning of the season. Brad Stevens will want to have a consistent rotation by the middle of the season though so it could force the Celtics’ hands to demote players to the D-League or make a mid-season trade.

Next: Boston Celtics Won't Overpay Evan Turner

Boston didn’t settle with a consistent rotation until midway through the season, so there’s time to figure out what works. Although, it’ll be harder than ever to divvy up minutes.

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