Boston Celtics: Yabusele, Ojeleye with something to prove in summer league
Both Guerschon Yabusele and Semi Ojeleye have something to prove in the summer league for the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics will be sending a summer league roster with some solid NBA experience. Both Guerschon Yabusele and Semi Ojeleye are looking to have a prominent role on a championship contending team, and that means they have a lot to prove in the summer league.
If either of them have any interest in getting consistent minutes, they will have to be a huge standout in summer league. The standard to get playing time on the Celtics is much higher this season, and if you cannot dominate summer league with NBA experience under your belt, you cannot expect anything more than garbage time minutes.
Right now, Ojeleye has a slight edge. After the job he did defending the Milwaukee Bucks in a seven game playoff series win, he has proven that he can be serviceable in the NBA. From there, he needs to be able to completely shut down any assignment in the summer league.
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Ojeleye can be one of the stronger defenders on the Celtics, but if he does not show that in summer league, he might lose some of the trust he established in the playoffs. Ojeleye needs to prove that performance was no fluke, and he can be better than just a situational defender.
Ojeleye wants to get a role that will be consistent, and last season he really only got the opportunity against the Bucks. In summer league, he can show how dynamic he is on defense. He will get an opportunity to defend five different positions, and how well he defends all of them could make a huge difference in his role this season.
Then you have Yabusele who needs to do a lot to overtake Ojeleye. It is hard to imagine both of them having an actual role on the Celtics this season, and Yabusele needs to show a lot of he is going to surpass Ojeleye.
Yabusele needs to prove that he can defend at a similar level of Ojeleye, because he fell far behind last season. If, however, he wants to truly pass him, he needs the offense too.
There is not much Yabusele can do in summer league to be enough to overcome the impact Ojeleye had in the playoffs. And that will make offense even more important.
The Celtics want two way versatility, and both of them can be primary scorers in summer league. Both of them need to prove that they can have an impact shooting, and that means they have to be quite impressive in summer league.
Both of them need to play at an incredible level in summer league, because of how much lower the standards are. Both of them are capable of being truly standout players in the summer league, and that gives them something to prove.
It is rare that you find players contributing to a championship contending team on the summer league roster, and the two of them will know that. They have to go out and prove that they are too good for the summer league, because that is the level they need to be at if they want to take over a role on the NBA roster.
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The competition will be tough, and this is a great opportunity for the two of them to show the Celtics what they can offer. The pressure will also be on, because struggling in the summer league could be the last straw for either of them.