Boston Celtics: 3 Cs that have the most to prove in training camp

The Boston Celtics have seemingly rounded off the 2021 offseason with the signing of Dennis Schroder and sending off of Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin. The two draft-and-stash players will spend another season with their respective clubs to bring their games up to NBA standards while the Cs look to attain banner 18 with a brand new roster. Losing the two is not significant and most likely benefits the Celts in the long term, but it does make training camp more interesting.

As it stands, the Boston Celtics will have quite a few players looking to crack their ten-man rotation. Guys like Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Jabari Parker, Sam Hauser, Carsen Edwards, Bruno Fernando, and Kris Dunn will all be battling for the time given the status of their positions rotation.

In the backcourt, it’s safe to assume Marcus Smart, Schroder, Josh Richardson, and Payton Pritchard will carry the bulk of the minutes. The same goes for the frontcourt and Boston’s wing corps.There isn’t much room between Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Aaron Nesmith, Al Horford, Enes Kanter, and Robert Williams for the back end of the Celts’ bench.

Let’s look at which of the Boston Celtics pieces will have the most to prove in training camp and how they can earn critical minutes during the season.

Could Sam Hauser be backend Boston Celtics bench piece?

The Boston Celtics did a lot this offseason, but the one thing they did not do was bring in an influx of shooting. Al Horford was an excellent addition to bolster the Celtics’ floor spacing, but the only movement shooters Ime Udoka will have are Jaylen Brown and Aaron Nesmith.

Sure, it would have been nice if Stevens could have signed Wayne Ellington or Doug McDermott. However, given the prices they went for and the market they settled it, it’s unlikely the Cs ever had a realistic chance of retaining any movement shooter in free agency.

That is where Sam Hauser comes in, a top 3 shooter in the draft that fell out of it and into the Boston Celtics hands. The four-year shooter out of Virginia signed a two-way with the Cs after he fell out of the draft despite being projected to get picked up in the second round.

Hauser doesn’t have much upside, but his shooting and size are what made him a worthy second-round pick, and it’s what will make him a rotational caliber player.

The Boston Celtics power-forward depth is thin after Jayson Tatum, leaving a slot for Hauser to fill if he’s up to the task. Hauser will have to prove his shooting can remain resilient in the NBA’s heightened pace in camp, something Aaron Nesmith struggled with at the beginning of the 2020-21 season. Hauser will also have to prove he can be a defensive contributor, specifically leveraging his size around the rim while avoiding getting burnt on the perimeter.

If he can prove he’s worth a couple of minutes a game, it’s hard for me to see Ime Udoka passing up on playing someone with his shooting talent.

Is the third year the charm for Romeo Langford?

Romeo Langford is heading into his third year with the Boston Celtics, and he’s shown nothing more than flashes so far. Every season Langford’s improvement has been derailed by injuries, specifically his jumper’s improvement, which continues to be the deciding factor between DNP’s an actual NBA minutes.

Not only will Langford have to demonstrate his ball skills, defense, and passing are worth minutes, he’ll also have to show he won’t break into a thousand pieces once he’s given a more significant load.

Most of Langford’s injuries have been freak accidents and unfortunate events. His injury history has not been written by poor fitness or inadequate body control. He’s just been unlucky. There’s nothing Langford can do in camp to take those injuries out of the realm of possibility. However, if Langford can show he’s in shape, been working on his jumper, and overall show he’s been working through his injuries, it’s likely he’ll have a good shot at rotational minutes.

In other words, Langford has to make his own luck. He has to show that the only way he’s going down is at the hands of another unavoidable accident and show he’s got the tools to contribute before his lack of luck catches up to him. Since Langford was held out of the Boston Celtics summer league championship game due to a wrist injury, my confidence in him is low but not nonexistent.

Where does Kris Dunn fit in the backcourt?

Saying Kris Dunn has the most to prove in training camp despite being a fifth-year player seems odd, but it’s not given the context surrounding his previous season.

After a career year with the Bulls in 2019-20, Kris Dunn was shipped to Atlanta to provide defensive stability beside Trae Young. Unfortunately, Dunn was injured for almost the entirety of the season and post-season, meaning the Hawks had a negative return on their investment.

That’s why they shipped him to Boston and why Boston will do the same to him if he can’t provide what they want in training camp.

Between Marcus Smart, Dennis Schroder, and Payton Pritchard, Dunn will be facing an uphill battle to compete for the time at point guard but may have a better chance at finding time in the shooting guard realm.

If he can prove he’s still the same defender he was in 2019-20 and that he’s a willing passer, Udoka will find a way to play him no matter his position preference. He also has to stay healthy.

Dunn’s $5 million contract is extremely tradable, and with the Boston Celtics loading up on TPEs, Dunn is projected to be on the trading block to free up space if he can’t prove he’s worth a roster spot.

The fifth-year guard must find a way to impact the Cs if he wants to stay with the team past the deadline. His judgment will start in training camp, and if it’s terrible from the start, he won’t have much time to impress Stevens and Udoka a second time.