Boston Celtics: 3 players that deserve more minutes

Boston Celtics that deserve more playing time: Carsen Edwards

Similar to Nesmith, Carsen Edwards has seen increased playing time in the last week of games. The second-year pro tied his career-high of 18 in the Boston Celtics’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, earning more minutes for future games. With Payton Pritchard out and Jeff Teague playing poorly, Edwards has taken the role of backup point guard for the present.

Carsen is a high-volume shooter, who can have really good nights, and some not so good nights. In his rookie season, he never got off the ground, shooting 32.8% from the field in 37 games. So far in the 2020-21 campaign, he has shot 48.4% from the field in only seven appearances. That kind of efficiency from a sparkplug guard off the bench is very good, especially considering he is not shooting the three-ball well (30.8%).

All of these numbers could be a product of a small sample size, but it’s fair to say that Edwards never got his fair shot in his first year with the Boston Celtics. His ideal role on an NBA roster is to create offense for himself when nobody else can. If he can’t hit a shot, he will always be a negative asset to his team. Not being able to make a shot all of last year certainly hurt his stock with Celtics fans, but his footage from college shows that he can in fact become a proficient scorer.

Nowadays, the Celtics are running the second unit through either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, often staggering the two stars. With someone like Edwards on the floor in that second unit, more offense can be created when either one of the Jays gets doubled. On defense, it’s difficult for him to guard effectively as he’s listed at under six feet. Nevertheless, he competes, and that’s all you can ask for with someone of his physical build.

Look, it’s possible the Carsen Edwards experiment doesn’t work out. An outcome like that would be okay. But he deserves a chance, especially in a strange season like this.

It’ll be interesting to see how Stevens adjusts the Boston Celtics’ rotations after the 13-man frenzy on Wednesday in San Antonio.