Boston Celtics: is Romeo Langford’s absence from the rotation a cause for concern?
Boston Celtics’ number one selection Romeo Langford has yet to log a single minute for the organization in regular season action. Should this be seen as a cause for concern?
With the season being three-games-old, there are still plenty of questions needing to be answered for our beloved Boston Celtics. The most pressing questions, of course, always pertain to how the the new faces–particularly the rookies–will fit in.
Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards are who we thought they’d be. Despite a few bumps along the way, both have proven to be viable rotation pieces for a playoff hopeful.
Vincent Poirier has played just six minutes but did score a basket, and Tacko Fall has played even less but has four points, three rebounds and an inappropriate amount of hype behind him.
Two of the aforementioned players were un-drafted, and none of them were lottery picks…so regarding the status of Boston’s sole 2019 lottery pick, Romeo Langford, the most prominent question is simply: where has he been?
The Celtics play the team that bounced them from the 2019 playoffs tomorrow night in Milwaukee for their fourth contest of the year. Through the first three games, the Indiana product and #14 pick has been MIA.
That is a cause for concern to say the least.
The Boston Celtics brass has stated injury to be the reason why the 19-year-old has yet to log a single minute of NBA regular season action, as Langford has been dealing with a sore right knee since the conclusion of the preseason.
This, unfortunately, isn’t Langford’s first foray onto the injury report. The 19-year-old has had ailments dating back to high school days. In his junior year of high school, he missed two weeks due to a pinky injury on his shooting hand. During his senior year (2017-18), he missed some time due to a finger injury sustained during practice.
Unfortunately, the finger related injury woes did not stop upon graduation, as his lone season with the Indiana Hoosiers was heavily impacted by a ligament tear in his right hand. Because of this, his one-and-done season statistics — specifically in his scoring efficiency — were negatively impacted. Because of this, the formerly projected top-5 selection fell to the final selection in the draft lottery.
Now, Langford is dealing with a sore right knee. Frankly, it’s alarming that he hasn’t yet made an appearance in the regular season after missing the Las Vegas Summer League and playing limited minutes in the preseason.
Until proven otherwise, selecting Langford looks like a reach by Danny Ainge in this year’s draft. Luckily, there is plenty of time for him to prove that he was the correct choice at the #14 pick over big-men like Goga Bitadze and Bruno Fernando–who could have been contributing to winning Boston Celtics basketball as Langford has sat out.