Boston Celtics: 2 players that need to be replaced in the rotation

Boston Celtics player No. 1) Aaron Nesmith

We at HH have long been advocates for seeing last year’s lottery selection, Aaron Nesmith, receiving more playing time within the rotation for the Boston Celtics.

Showcasing some high-end potential as a quality all-around scorer during the latter portion of 2020-21, this year’s Summer League, and throughout the preseason many had high expectations for the sophomore wing heading into 2021-22.

Unfortunately, however, he has yet to live up to any of the hype that followed him into the season and, through 23 games, has struggled to find consistent playing time within Udoka’s rotation.

Playing in 19 contests, Nesmith finds himself boasting uninspiring averages of just 2.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game on 33 percent shooting from the floor and 26 percent shooting from deep.

Now, as we’ve stated numerous times throughout the year, a big reason for these less-than-stellar stats is likely due to his lack of playing time as a whole, for someone of his playstyle certainly needs more than 9.2 minutes to get into a rhythm, especially someone at his age.

However, at the same time, it seems as though the coaching staff is just unwilling to entrust him with any more playtime and, if this remains to be the case, we believe they should simply look to cut him out of the rotation altogether and, in turn, give his minutes to someone who they believe could actually make a difference in this range of minutes.

So far, we have only seen the 22-year-old finish a contest with a positive plus-minus rating three times.

Why would Boston continue to roll him out, even in the short amount of spurts he’s already being given, if he’s not only not impressing the coaches but, also, is consistently contributing in a negative fashion?