Boston Celtics: 3 potential side-effects of Romeo Langford injury

The Boston Celtics received some rough injury news with Romeo Langford announced to be missing the rest of the year following wrist surgery.

Down 2-1 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, the Boston Celtics didn’t need bad injury news…but here we are. The Cs’ lone 2019 lottery pick is now out for the season following the announcement that Romeo Langford would be missing the rest of the 2020 postseason:

Damn.

It isn’t the biggest blow in the world since Langford has played just over a minute in the Celtics’ Eastern Conference finals series with the Miami Heat. Similarly against Toronto, Langford was a bit player, and he really only saw the court against the 76ers because of how dominant the Celtics were; most of his minutes in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals were in garbage time.

That said, there will be side effects from this. Here are 3 the Houdini can think of:

He gets traded to clear up roster space

Romeo Langford’s numerous ailments that caused him to miss well more than half of the regular season, making several players drafted below him look like notable draft snubs. At this point, his value has plummeted.

Could the Boston Celtics consider using him in what could amount to a salary dump to make room for three incoming 2020 NBA Draft first round picks? Langford has yet to carve out a role in the rotation, and his salary is higher than his fellow draftees, so dumping him could alleviate the luxury tax bill.

His development is further stunted

Romeo Langford’s modest regular season stats are far from eye-popping…but can you blame him? He missed summer league, then missed the first portion of the season and never truly got into a groove.

Now that he will be missing the postseason, Langford stands to miss valuable NBA Finals experience if the Cs advance and win the Eastern Conference title.

He continues to be seen as a long-term project

Look, this injury doesn’t really change much of what we already know: Langford is an injury prone asset. That said, there’s always the possibility he can one day put his injury issues behind him. Luckily he is still under contract for the next three seasons.

Nothing may change at the end of the day because of this injury, though. It may just be another in a long line of them, or it may just be the end of the tunnel for a player who has not had great luck early in his Boston Celtics career.