Tip-off to the 2021-22 season for the Boston Celtics is a little under a month away, and we at the Houdini couldn’t be more ecstatic.
After watching them endure one of their most disappointing campaigns in recent memory, registering a mere 36-36 record during the regular season and being trounced via gentleman’s sweep against the Brooklyn Nets in round one of the 2021 playoffs, fans of the organization are heading into this year with the hope that more success is right on the horizon.
That said, before we can tune in to view the shamrocks face off against the New York Knicks on opening night, the franchise must go through their annual training camp and preseason, the latter of which opens September 28th.
Though generally speaking, camp is a time period where people outside of the organization or individuals who are non-members of the media are left somewhat in the dark when it comes to information, news eventually manages to make its way to the airwaves at some in time.
In regard to said news, during this year’s training camp we at HH believe fans should have their eyes and ears open for information pertaining to 3 specific members of the Boston Celtics:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Romeo Langford
Heading into his third year with the Boston Celtics, 2021-22 appears to be somewhat of a make-or-break campaign for former lottery selection, Romeo Langford.
Since being selected 14th overall back in 2019, the wing has struggled mightily to carve out a consistent role within the team’s rotation, be it due to wonky play or injury.
Heading into year three, Langford has played in 50 out of a potential total of 144 regular-season games (just about 35 percent of contests played).
During said outings, his production has proven to be rather underwhelming, as the highly-touted Indiana University product boasts career averages of just 2.7 points on 35 percent shooting from the floor and 22 percent shooting from deep.
Though he has shown flashes of being a sound defender and finisher at the rim, said flashes have been too few and far between for both fans and the franchise to get a proper read of what the 21-year-old’s potential is at this level.
With more competition being brought in at the wing this offseason (Josh Richardson, and newly-signed sharpshooter Garrison Mathews), coupled with many familiar faces returning, in comparison to previous training camps, Langford has a steeper hill to climb when it comes to trying to attain a consistent rotational spot.
His performance in this year’s Summer League was rather encouraging (17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists on 38.5 percent shooting from deep), but this was done against a majority of players who were/ are heading towards either two-way contracts or the free agency market.
How Romeo Langford winds up playing in training camp will have massive implications on what his future with the franchise moving forward will look like.
Boston Celtics player No. 2) Robert Williams III
Now yes, some of you may be somewhat confused to see the likes of Robert Williams III being mentioned on a list discussing players to monitor closely during training camp, for a piece such as this usually focuses on players still trying to establish themselves and, well, the big man has already done that what with his newly signed $54 million contract extention.
However, there is another way in which players can go about camp, and that is to try and attain a more sizeable role within the rotation for the coming year.
For Time Lord, this role would ultimately be the starting center slot.
As things currently stand, we at HH along with plenty of other media outlets believe believe that, come opening night, the player manning the middle in the first five for the Cs will ultimately be veteran center Al Horford, who held the position for the team from 2016 to 2019 during his first stint with the organization.
To us, this concept of slotting in the former All-Star in this role just makes sense, for he’s already proven capable of excelling at the five with this franchise, can help space the floor, and is coming off of a solid all-around season (14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists on 37 percent shooting from deep in 2020-21).
However, there is a strong argument to be made that Robert Williams deserves an equal opportunity to claim the starting center position, for his play in said role last year saw impressive outcomes both individually as well as for the Celtics as a whole.
During 13 stars last year, the 23-year-old posted averages of 9.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.7 blocks on 70.5 percent shooting while also registering a record of 10-3 during this timespan.
What’s more impressive is, per 75 possessions during the 2020-21 season the big man posted averages of 15.5 points, 13.3 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.4 blocks on an impressive 72 percent shooting from the floor while boasting a team-best box plus-minus of 6.1, thus insinuating that, when given more opportunities to perform, Williams can certainly deliver.
As we mentioned earlier, the fourth-year veteran signed a rather lofty contract extension this summer, thus meaning Stevens and co. believe he has the potential to be the long-term answer for this franchise down low.
During training camp, we expect Robert Williams to give it his all in an effort to get the ball rolling on trying to secure the starting center position for good.
Boston Celtics player No. 3) Aaron Nesmith
Though Aaron Nesmith had himself a rather underwhelming rookie campaign as a whole last season, he did show some serious potential towards the end of the year which, in turn, sparked hope within the fanbase that there’s still a chance he can become a quality contributor for the Boston Celtics moving forward.
Like we insinuated, his overall stats may not grab anyone’s attention on the surface (4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game), but during the final nine games of 2020-21, the 21-year-old managed to show glimpses of his potential as a solid scoring wing.
During this timespan, logging 21.6 minutes per game Nesmith went on to average 9.7 points and 4.9 rebounds on nearly 54 percent shooting from the floor 45 percent shooting from deep.
During last month’s Summer League, the soon-to-be sophomore followed up his late-season level of play with an impressive five-game showing, dropping averages of 17.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 50 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from deep while also seeing 33-point outing along the way.
Should he continue on this path, it’s only a matter of time before he snags a consistent and key role within the rotation where he could ultimately prove to be a player that has a massive impact.
This all starts with a strong training camp for Aaron Nesmith.