Jonas Jerebko has Earned More Minutes

Jonas Jerebko has proven he deserves more minutes

With the loss of Jared Sullinger and all the uncertainty surrounding Tyler Zeller, the once unbearably cluttered Boston Celtics front court is opening up. Obviously, Al Horford is taking over the majority of the responsibility, but as it stands now, there is uncertainty in every other aspect of their front court.

Kelly Olynyk should continue to be an offensive three point shooting spark coming off the bench, and Amir Johnson‘s reliability in the paint should allow him to continue the role he played last season.

Amidst the chaotic front court rotation last year, one solid contributor for the Celtics had to wait until injuries piled up in the playoffs to get any kind of real role with the team. Jonas Jerebko averaged just 15 minutes per game in the regular season, but saw that jump all the way up to 27 minutes per game in the postseason, where he played arguably the best basketball of his career. That was the first time Jerebko was given real responsibility in the Celtics’ rotation, and he responded exactly how he needed to in order to establish the trust the Celtics need in him.

Jerebko took some time to get things going form beyond true arc last year, but he has proven that he can bring an added boost on both ends of the court, and he has proven that he deserves to have a significant role for the Celtics, even if it is coming off the bench.

Position versatility also works in Jerebko’s favor. With the way the Celtics use their forwards, he can play literally anywhere in the front court and he can offer that at a time when the Celtics are desperate for small forward depth. If Jaylen Brown is not given too much responsibility as a rookie and with Evan Turner no longer with the team, the Celtics have absolutely no small forward depth behind Jae Crowder and they can be confident that Jerebko will be a serviceable defender and a knock down three point shooter from that spot.

While Jerebko has little high end potential as a play maker or a game changer, he is one of the pieces currently on the team that can help improve their disastrous shooting struggles from a season ago. A career 35.3% shooter from beyond the arc has had his best years with the Celtics, and in his limited minutes has proven to be one of the post reliable three point shooters on the team.

Jerebko shot 40.6% and 39.8% from three in his first two years and Olynyk has been the only front court player that has been able to shoot with that kind of consistency. The Celtics have been vocal about wanting forwards that can stretch the floor. The problem is that their font court shooting has been one of the weakest parts of their team, but that can change this year.

Al Horford alone can be an offensive game changer with his ability to shoot for the Celtics, but their shooting struggles go far beyond one player. The biggest reason why Sullinger never managed to live up to expectations for the Celtics was his inability to become a three point shooter. With Johnson’s miserably failed attempt to stretch beyond the three point line last season, Jerebko is the only place the Celtics can look to bring that shooting depth to their front court.

While the way he has been used in the past two seasons suggest it is a long shot at best for it to happen, but Jerebko’s ability to stretch the floor while being a positive defender should get him consideration to start alongside Horford. Johnson is expected to continue his role as a starter from last season but the addition of Horford could reduce his importance.

Johnson was one of the only capable rebounders and interior defenders on the Celtics last year. Johnson was a lone stable force in the paint for the Celtics and Horford will immediately change that. Horford surpasses Johnson in every aspect and on both ends of the court in the paint and all of a sudden, Jerebko’s contributions could quickly begin to outweigh Johnson’s, largely based on the fact that shooting is going to be a bigger problem than interior defense this season.

Even if he does not get into the starting lineup, Jerebko has done enough to prove his worth to the team, and that is better than a lowly 15 minutes per game. Jerebko deserves to be one of the key front court rotation players on this Celtics team and he has shown little signs of disappointing on either end.

In his two years with the Celtics, Jerebko has an offensive rating of 110 and a defensive rating of 104. While that may not be game changing on either end, it shows the kind of balance he can play with. Jerebko also has proven that he can defend on the perimeter, further accommodating the kind of position versatility that Stevens continues to look for.

Jerebko has done nothing to suggest that he can be a main contributor or game changer for the Celtics. He will rarely be tasked with guarding the top opposing players and he does not look to take over games on the offensive end. That being said, one of the weakest front courts in the NBA needs to make sure they establish the consistency and reliability that always escaped them last season.

On offense and on defense, the Celtics know that they can trust Jerebko. The Celtics drafted a solid collection of bigs this year but they cannot be expected to be ready to shoot as well as Jerebko already has for the Celtics, and they will need time to catch up to NBA competition before they can be capable defenders.

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The starting lineup may be out of reach, but now that the front court is finally settling Jerebko deserves to be approaching that 20 minutes per game mark, with an opportunity to have a real impact game in and game out.