Many are discussing what the impact of the Boston Celtics’ new young bloods will be, but it seems everyone is overlooking Romeo Langford.
Drafting four rookies wasn’t always the plan. In fact, it was reported several times that the Boston Celtics didn’t intend on keeping their four selections in this years draft, but such is life.
Kyrie Irving and Al Horford left. Anthony Davis was taken off the table in a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers and the plan changed.
Out of all the rookies taken this past June, Carsen Edwards — 33rd overall pick –has perhaps drawn the most attention so far for his explosive shooting ability and small stature.
Throughout the Las Vegas Summer League, Edwards averaged 18 points on 52% shooting from the field and 40% from behind the arc. This has led many to believe the 21-year-old will carve out a role as a reserve guard.
How effective he’ll be in that role is a conversation for another day, but I think I tend to agree with those people.
Grant Williams, Boston’s late first round pick, has drawn praise for his on and off the court contributions. Most notably his impact on the game that is very Marcus Smart-esque.
A bit undersized for the power forward position standing at 6-7, Williams has a nice blend of skill and strength that should allow him to thrive in most NBA scenarios. Optimists are already believing Williams will be able to step in and provide some of the intangibles and steady play that was consistently manufactured by Horford.
Tremont Waters was taken near the end of the draft, and won’t see a lot of time with the Celtics this year barring injuries to the rest of the roster. That leaves Romeo Langford, selected 14th overall and was once considered a top five prospect before a thumb injury took a toll on his single season at Indiana.
A shooting guard with great size at 6-6, Langford has all the tools to impact the game from day one. Yet, he is often the odd man out when trying to figure out where all the pieces fit together.
Now, one may ask: why is that?
Well, his absence from summer league due to his ongoing injury recovery may be playing a factor in all of this. That, and also his fellow rookie counterparts playing admirably in Vegas, specifically Edwards showing out in Steph Curry-like fashion.
Looking at the roster on paper though, it becomes harder and harder to think of excuses as to why Langford won’t get minutes.
One would assume that Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, and Enes Kanter are the six locks in the regular season rotation.
If you’re going by the traditional 11 — occasionally 12 — man rotation, that leaves you room for five players with some combination of Williams, Edwards, Langford, Brad Wanamaker, Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, Robert Williams, and Vincent Poirier.
There’s a couple different ways you can slice it, but every sane combination should feature Langford somewhere in there.
Forget Brad Stevens’ style for a minute (which has always featured a wing off the bench who can create offense and all around roster versatility). From a roster constructing standpoint, having Ojeleye as your only wing off the bench is a recipe for disaster.
The team ranked second last in free throw attempts last year, and Langford at 6-6 gives Boston a slashing, free throw spawning machine they haven’t had since Paul Pierce was in town. Langford averaged 6.1 attempts from the line per game in his single season at Indiana while also converting an efficient percentage around the basket.
Langford is almost a complete three level scorer aside from his sub par three-point shooting, though there are reasons for encouragement on that front.
Two out of his three years at New Albany, Langford shot above 35% from three (36% and 38%) and 80% from the charity stripe (81% and 82%.) The notion that a dip in efficiency in those two areas is due to the thumb injury is a valid argument, but only time will tell.
Taking into account that both Smart and Brown were non-shooters early in their careers, but now shoot from beyond the arc in the high thirties is a good sign that favors Boston’s shooting coaches.
Though he’s not perfect without the ball in his hands, Langford is still a smart offensive player to go along with superior scoring instincts.
Here, Langford recognizes the double team coming to his teammate. He cuts to occupy space, forcing the defense to stay anchored down low. This leads to the eventual swinging of the ball to find the open man. Langford even has the awareness to stand in the way of the close out.
Regardless of how his shot develops year one, the rookie’s offensive game looks polished enough to earn him minutes. Defensively, there’s a lot of untapped potential.
Langford’s strength is his on-ball defense, where his 6-11 wingspan has allowed him to become pretty reliable on this end of the floor. He ranked in the 93rd percentile defending in isolation according to Synergy.
However, his off-ball defense is still a serious work in progress. Like Brown in his first two seasons (sometimes now), Langford will get caught ball watching and lose track of his defensive assignment.
Initially, Langford does a good job getting over the screen and moving his feet. After his man passes off and cuts to the corner though, he nonchalantly back pedals while mostly focusing on the ball, leaving his man open. Marquette still scores without hitting the open corner, but could have cashed in for three with a little more awareness.
If off-ball slip ups are his worst attribute, that shouldn’t be much of an issue and can be ironed out with good coaching, maybe even a short leash early on.
Stevens has turned Tatum, a notoriously bad defender in college, into a net positive when guarding away from the ball in the teams scheme. A player with a bigger motor like Langford should have no issue acclimating and improving himself.
Perhaps the most underrated aspect of Langford’s arrival in Boston is the potential Brown insurance. Everyone has their eyes locked in on what will become of Brown’s contractual status before the 2019-20 season.
Boston has until the season starts to sign Brown to a multi-year extension, but it is in Brown’s best interest to play out the season to boost his value after somewhat of a disappointing s2018 campaign (even if he was spectacular the last few months.)
In a weaker free agent class, the few teams that have significant cap space may target a premium wing like Brown. A player who has the ability to guard multiple positions well, and who possesses All-Star offensive potential don’t come around too often.
The way the NBA free agent market operates today, it’s plausible that Brown gets a max offer from another team should he have a bounce back year. If I may offer my opinion, I think Boston would match it no matter what, but there’s always the chance they don’t if Langford shows enough in his first year.
Getting Langford sufficient playing time now will greatly benefit the team in the present and in the future. Some of Boston’s other rookies may have shown some flair in summer league, but let’s not forget about Langford.
He was selected before all of these other guys for a reason.