Boston Celtics: 1 stud and 1 dud from C’s first win of season over Rockets

Boston Celtics dud: Aaron Nesmith

Heading into the 2021-22 season, expectations were rather high for Aaron Nesmith.

Despite having an up-and-down rookie campaign, he showed enough during the latter part of last year’s regular season and showed out during this past August’s Summer League which, in turn, had many believing he was deserving of a rather sizeable role increase within the rotation, with some even going as far as to suggest that he should even be in consideration for a starting nod.

Through three games of action, not only is he unequivocally not a starter, but it’s certainly arguable that his presence on the court has hurt the Cs more than it has actually helped them.

Sunday marked the third consecutive game that he’s finished with a negative box plus-minus score as well as him finishing with a whopping zero in the points department despite logging the most minutes on the year and having attempted four shots from the field.

A player who was drafted to serve as a high-end offensive contributor, specifically in the scoring department, him going scoreless yet again was truly a downer for both fans and, more importantly, the organization to see.

Coming into Sunday’s matchup many were hoping that, with a more manageable opponent like the Houston Rockets, coupled with the fact that players would be in a position to get more scoring opportunities with All-Star Jaylen Brown sidelined, we’d finally witness Nesmith somewhat break onto the scene.

With yet another uninspiring performance, however, all he’s really done is plummet his stock within the rotation while also keeping everyone waiting to see just how much longer it will take for him to contribute in a positive manner.