Does Jordan Mickey Deserve More Opportunities?
Does Jordan Mickey deserve more opportunities to prove his worth to the Boston Celtics?
The Boston Celtics have had an up and down start to the season, and it is no surprise that the majority of those problems have come from the second unit. Their two best players, Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk, have been sidelined since the season began, and they still have not settled into anything they can trust.
The Celtics have liked what they have seen out of Jaylen Brown and Tyler Zeller. Terry Rozier has looked comfortable with the ball in his hands and they have avoided being a complete disappointment. The problem is that the Celtics have no established players left on that second unit, and it has Stevens plays a wildly inconsistently second unit rotation.
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For Jordan Mickey, however, it has been pretty consistent. Last game he had a season high eight minutes played, and it was the only time he was given any kind of opportunity to play real minutes. Unfortunately, eight minutes was not enough to prove anything on either end, and he continues to be a complete mystery on the bench.
With Smart and Olynyk out, now is the best time for Mickey to get minutes on the court. The question, however, remains whether or not he should be getting those opportunities. You can get the sense that when the team is healthy, Mickey will never get a chance at anything more than garbage time. If he is struggling to get opportunities now, there is a reason for it. Clearly, Stevens has not seen enough from Mickey, and if he wouldn’t be getting minutes at full strength the Celtics could be better off giving the other options those extra opportunities.
The Celtics have players that they know are going to maintain strong roles when Smart and Olynyk are back, and with how inexperience they are, having these extra minutes could make all the difference in the world. For Mickey, he has a much harder battle to try and get any kind of legitimate role.
The one reason why Mickey should continue to get opportunities at this point is because of how uncertain the second unit rotation is now. In the back court, they can feel quite settled with Rozier and Green having the two biggest roles behind Smart. In the front court, Zeller has separated himself, and even started the second half of one game. Other than that, there is nobody else who knows with certainty that they will have a role once they are at full strength.
Mickey is in a difficult position, but that is the case for the majority of the second unit front court, and that is the reason Mickey should continue to get minutes. Mickey may never have a key role, but he can still have a role as important as some of the players currently getting playing time over him.
With the luxury of these extra minutes, I would expect Stevens to start using Mickey a little more. Even if it is just in those eight minutes spurts, that is more than many thought Mickey would be getting this season.
The Celtics also desperately need any kind of rebounding boost they can get. Mickey can come in and be a stronger presence in the paint, benefitting the overall balance of their defense. Zeller has been much better than expected on defense, and Jonas Jerebko can hold his own, but Mickey’s potential in that area is why they gave him such a lucrative second round contract.
Right now, there is no reason to be optimistic about a role for Mickey. That being said, the only way he can change that is with opportunities, even if it is as limited as last game. Mickey needs to establish a better level of comfort and needs to prove that he can contribute in multiple ways.
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Mickey has done nothing to deserve a consistent spot in the rotation, but he has done enough to earn at least as many opportunities as anyone other than Zeller in the second unit front court rotation.