Boston Celtics: 3 minutes battles to monitor in preseason

Boston Celtics minutes battle #3: Aaron Nesmith vs. Romeo Langford

Josh Richardson’s arrival could be bad news for one of the C’s recent #14 picks. In 2019, Boston chose Indiana product Romeo Langford, and a year later, they selected Aaron Nesmith out of Vanderbilt.

While the pair shared the floor in Summer League to great success, the actual Celtics rotation features its best players on the wing. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are going nowhere soon, making it a bit of an uphill climb for the lottery duo.

Given the lack of a draft pick in 2021 making their way stateside with Yam Madar staying overseas to play professionally, Nesmith and Langford (and Payton Pritchard) represent the team’s best chance to develop a recent pick into a postseason contributor.

Interestingly enough, Langford flirted with that label during the 2021 postseason against the Brooklyn Nets, but Nesmith is the one most Cs fans project to have the higher ceiling, and thus, a better likelihood to be a meaningful role player when Boston is making its next deep playoff run.

This preseason will be a proving ground for both as they aim to begin their pitch to Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens to ink a life-changing extension over the next few seasons.