Boston Celtics: 3 players bound for bigger roles in 2021-22

Boston Celtics player No. 3) Aaron Nesmith

Not only do the Boston Celtics want Aaron Nesmith to have a breakout 2021-22 season but, frankly, they need him to if they truly wish to thrust themselves into the legitimate playoff contenders category.

Over the past several years now, though they have had numerous glaring weaknesses within their rotation, perhaps one of their biggest areas of concern has been within their bench unit, particularly in the scoring department.

Last year alone, the C’s bench wound up ranking just 28th in the league in points per game and 23rd in offensive rating.

Now yes, while the acquisition of Dennis Schroder should do wonders for their offensive production off the pine, one man cannot turn around such a tumultuous group on his own, which is why it is believed that at least one more player must rise to the occasions and the Houdini is under the impression that that player should be Nesmith.

Towards the end of last season, the 21-year-old started to showcase the skillset that ultimately made him a lottery selection that previous offseason, as he would post 9.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game on 53.6 percent shooting from the floor and 45 percent shooting from deep while dropping 15 or more points on four separate occasions during the final nine games of the year.

Throughout his rookie campaign, he also managed to show that, when given more minutes within the rotation his overall production only improved, and this trend seemed to slow right along into last month’s Summer League where he served as the focal point of the offense for the shamrocks and, in turn, posted 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 this upward trajectory into training camp and in the preseason, there’s no reason to believe that last year’s 14th overall selection won’t have a much bigger role for the Boston Celtics in 2021-22.