If James Young’s appearance in the Las Vegas Summer League is any indication, his opportunities with the Boston Celtics are numbered
With just over 10 minutes remaining in the 2014 NCAA National Championship Game, and his Kentucky Wildcats trailing the UConn Huskies by nine points, shooting guard James Young painted himself in March Madness highlight reels for decades to come.
He caught a pass from a spinning Julius Randle five feet behind the three-point line at the top of the key, and in a thrilling display of pure athleticism, took two dribbles to his left to blow by his helpless defender. Then, Young took flight in Blake Griffin-esque fashion, soaring through the lane to posterize Huskies center Amida Brimah with plenty of contact for a thunderous and-one, sending the crowd into absolute hysteria.
When the Boston Celtics utilized the 17th pick in that summer’s draft to select Young, the minds of Boston fans instantly flashed to that one moment of brilliance on the biggest stage of them all. Standing 6’6″ and weighing 215 pounds, the unpolished product was raw in nearly every facet of his game. However, spurts of his potential, both athletically and shooting-wise, showed through the cracks throughout his sole season at Kentucky. It left much of the Celtics faithful optimistic for what could one day become a one-two punch between him and fellow 2014 draftee Marcus Smart in the back court.
However, Young has not only underwhelmed the masses in his first two-plus seasons with the team, he has been downright disappointing. His days in Boston are certainly numbered following an unspirited performance at the NBA’s summer league.
Just 20-years-old entering his third season in the league, Young appears to have tired of the process of earning a roster spot through consistent play in summer league and in training camp. His effort lacked in the Celtics narrow defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the team’s opening round postseason tournament game, according to summer league head coach Jamie Young, and his play wavered throughout the slate of games.
Criticized for his lack of consistency throughout his tenure with the Celtics, the 20-year-old simply repeated his past mistakes throughout the two-week period. After beginning July with a scorching start, providing his coaching staff with a tinge of optimism while hitting six of his first seven three-point attempts in Utah, Young cooled off quickly in Las Vegas.
His three-point field goal percentage plummeted drastically from 67 percent in Utah to a porous 20 percent, certainly below the expectations for someone who was originally drafted with the hopes of becoming a sharpshooter. Overall, he shot just 25 percent in Las Vegas compared to a 40.7 percent mark in Utah, and subsequently his minutes fell from 26.6 to just 14.2 per game including just seven in the playoff loss to the Cavaliers.
What makes Young’s poor performance in Las Vegas so troubling is that if anyone needed a strong showing, it was the perennial D-League regular. After shooting just 23.1 percent from three and 30.6 percent from the field in 29 appearances with the Celtics in 2015-16, Young desperately needed positive marks in summer league to show that he is capable of becoming a rotation player above second-year pro R.J. Hunter.
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However, Young further cemented the belief that is now becoming a formality among Celtics supporters, that the team would have been better suited drafting a guard such as the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Jordan Clarkson or the Denver Nuggets‘ Gary Harris with that 17th selection two years ago.