Boston Celtics: Why training camp will be pivotal for 14th overall selection, Romeo Langford

There’s already a considerable amount of hype for some of the incoming Boston Celtics rookies. Unfortunately for Romeo Langford, this creates a steeper hill to climb in order to garner significant playing time in year one.

The NBA Summer League should have inspired hope for just about any Boston Celtics fan. I mean, did you see Grant Williams looking like the next Boris Diaw with his shooting touch and facilitation skills? How about the explosive scoring punch that Carsen Edwards provided? Or what about the overpowering and towering Senegalese wunderkind, Tacko Fall?

Notably absent from the media’s praise of the Celtics’ Las Vegas performance was Boston’s lone lottery pick, Romeo Langford. Because of this, though he was selected first, it appears the 19-year-old finds himself at the bottom of the rookie food chain.

It’s been an arduous summer for Langford, who has been recovering from a right thumb injury that significantly impacted his play during his one-and-done season with the Indiana Hoosiers.

Upon being selected with the 14th pick, fans and media alike all deemed Danny Ainge‘s decision as a reach. Though the wing managed to put up 16.3 points and 5.4 rebounds a night, his overall efficiency left something to be desired, as he only shot 27% from deep and totaled just seven more assists than turnovers by season’s end.

Clearly, Ainge views Langford as a longterm project, whereas Williams and Edwards, in particular, look ready to contribute at the onset of the 2019-20 season. The young wing’s injury has only extrapolated that timeline.

Perhaps Langford’s difficult journey may be finding the light at the end of the tunnel sooner rather than later, as he officially has been cleared to return to basketball activities. He is still behind the 8-ball relative to his fellow rookie teammates.

He hasn’t put in the reps like they have (of course not by choice), he has not learned the finer details of Brad Stevens’ offensive system and, most notably, he has not yet established chemistry with any of his Boston Celtics teammates.

With his medical clearance, Langford is expected to be a full participant in the team’s upcoming training camp. This will be the wing’s first chance at showing what he is capable of providing Boston if given minutes during the regular season.

A strong showing in both training camp and during the team’s preseason outings may be exactly what Langford needs to warrant consideration by Stevens to place him on the hardwood throughout his rookie campaign. However, if he does not put forth a promising effort, he may find it hard to hoist himself from the bottom of the pecking order.