Boston Celtics: 4 replacements for Brad Wanamaker this offseason
By Mark Nilon
Potential replacement for Brad Wanamaker No. 2) Tremont Waters
Tremont Waters is a player who has peaked the intrigue of a majority of Boston Celtics fans.
Selected 51st overall in last year’s draft, the former LSU Tiger spent a majority of his rookie season logging minutes in the G-League with the Maine Red Claws.
Whilst honing his skills, Waters managed to post impressive averages of 18 points, 7.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and two steals a game on 43 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from deep.
With his production, the 22-year-old helped guide the Red Claws to a 28-14 record, good enough for the fourth seed in their division and earned himself the honors of G-League Rookie of the Year.
About a year ago, many across the league were already impressed by the young guard’s potential, with scouts going as far as to say they “missed on him” during the 2019 draft.
One last name that came up repeatedly talking to front office executives and scouts about the G-League Showcase: Tremont Waters. Water is on a Two-Way with Boston.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 23, 2019
"He's an NBA backup PG right now. I told our GM to trade for him, because he's better than what we have today."
Lastly on Tremont Waters from a scout: "I missed on him. Big time. Thought was too small for our league. But he's tough and fast. I don't know what he'll be beyond it, but he's an NBA backup point guard at least. And that's valuable because everyone plays three PGs a night now."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 23, 2019
If the professionals across the league were stating this by the time December rolled around last season, then with a year already under his belt, and ample playing time in the developmental league, couldn’t that mean that Waters is coming into this season with even more hype surrounding him?
Though he only managed to play in 11 games with the Boston Celtics during his rookie year, his short spurts on the court showed promise for the young guard in this league, especially his play during the team’s November 25th bout with the Sacramento Kings where Waters recorded record seven points, three assists, two rebounds, two blocks, one steal, and a box plus-minus of +20 in 19 minutes of action.
It was already relayed to the public that the Cs are extended a qualifying offer to Tremont Waters this offseason, thus having us believe they see potential in the point guard.
Might that potential lead to the primary backup point guard role within the rotation in 2020-21?