The Boston Celtics have visions of Romeo Langford as being part of their future for a long time and are taking their time with him in regards to his injuries and transitioning into the NBA.
Over the last few years the Boston Celtics have been quite successful in selecting their next young stars. More specifically, selecting young players who have only spent one year in college and are NBA ready.
Let’s remember the Celtics drafted Jaylen Brown at 20 years old, and Jayson Tatum at 19 years old. Now in 2019, the Celtics yet again selected a young 19 year old in Romeo Langford.
Romeo Langford is a legend in the state of Indiana. During his senior year, Langford averaged 35.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game and would even score a career-high 63 points in a game. By the time he finished high school, Langford became 4th on the all-time scoring list in the state of Indiana with 3,002 career points.
After an amazing high school career that earned him the title of “Indiana Mr. Basketball”, saw him be rated a five-star recruit by ESPN, and witnessed him become a McDonald’s All American, Langford decided to stay in his home state and attend Indiana University. Basketball in the state of Indiana is a big part of life and to one day be a Hoosier is a dream come true for a kid from Indiana.
During his lone season at Indiana, Romeo would average 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while playing 34.1 minutes per game. Langford’s production was limited during his freshman debut due to a torn ligament in his right thumb, but the freshman guard decided to play through his injury; even if it meant hurting his draft profile.
It’s important to remember Romeo was averaging 35.5 points per game just a year prior to averaging only 16.5 points per game as a college freshman. Taking a dip in production for a player entering the draft after just one year in college doesn’t necessarily look appealing to NBA scouts.
It’s also worth mentioning the overall sample size of Langford is extremely small. Before drafting the young guard, all we’ve seen from him is four years of high school and one year of college ball.
With the being said, the great basketball minds of Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens (who is a native of Indiana) saw all they needed too out of the 19 year old NBA prospect. Knowing about the thumb injury that would later require surgery, the Boston Celtics still drafted Langford 14th overall in 2019.
The Celtics have rehabbed and trained with their top draft choice through all the injuries he’s sustained this season and aren’t interested in rushing the process. In doing so, Langford has spent some time with the Maine Red Claws this season. In his debut with the Red Claws, he finished with 27 points, 6 blocks, and 5 rebounds.
After a promising start, he did suffer an ankle injury during a game with the Red Claws and that has set him back a bit in his progressions. But he is starting to regain strength and confidence, and has appeared in a few games for the C’s, scoring his first NBA points.
Now that Langford has played some meaningful minutes for the C’s it’s safe to say the fans are still growing into Romeo as being a true member of the green and white. Given the expectations of a first-round pick, it’s definitely different to see a player get drafted while injured; or even play in the G-League.
We all need to remember at the end of the day he’s still only 19 years old and is still finding himself as a professional in the NBA. It’ll be great to watch Langford progress throughout his career here in Boston. The Boston Celtics seem to already know they have a special player on their hands.
Brad Stevens on Romeo Langford:
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) October 4, 2019
"It’s funny, even when he’s playing open gym before the season, seemed to go in a little bit more when he was playing … He’s got touch, he knows how to score the ball. He’s a good player. The game comes really easy to him.”