Before Jayson Tatum's return, the Boston Celtics held the fort down with their superstar out. Jaylen Brown did his thing, of course, but the team wouldn't have been in the position they're in now had the entire team not simply stepped up in Tatum's absence. At the forefront of the internal improvement has been Baylor Scheierman's ascension.
No, he hasn't been Boston's best player, but it's hard not to notice both his improvement and the impact on the team. Scheierman has been the jack-of-all-trades wing Boston needed to fill in the void after everything they lost. He's getting the props he deserves for it, but more than that, he's proving what skeptics worried about him in the first place to be extremely incorrect: he's an effective ball player.
Let's take it back to last season. Many Celtics fans want to forget what happened last season for obvious reasons, but in Scheierman's case, he was proving himself to be quite the sideshow as the regular season was reaching its conclusion.
As fun as it was to watch at the time, he was doing this when everything had pretty much already been decided, and against some of the NBA's worst teams, so Scheierman's effectiveness came into question.
One year later, and as understandable as it was back then, Scheierman has proven that he was more than just a spectacle.
Scheierman has proven he is absolutely legit
Yesterday, Scheierman lit up the Cleveland Cavaliers, putting up 16 points (on four threes) and 10 boards in Boston's rout in Cleveland. Not to mention putting up a plus/minus of plus-10.
It was one of his best performances but anyone who has been watching Scheierman isn't even surprised he's doing this. His high basketball IQ, tough defense, nose for the boards, spotting up confidently from three all serve as clear as day proof of the multi-faceted player he is.
Better yet, he did this against the one team that could be Boston's toughest competition in the Eastern Conference. Him doing this in a game both teams definitely wanted further cements as a dependable player.
Even if his three-ball hadn't been falling, Scheierman showed why Boston has been counting on him as much as they have this season. Because of how many things he can do, he makes the team better when he's on the floor. A three-ball can brick, but instincts to make the right play - passing, rebounding, defense - that doesn't go away.
Scheierman has proven his adaptability
When Tatum's return was picking up steam, the one question on everyone's mind was who was getting benched for him. It was clear before his return that if he got the start, either Scheierman or Sam Hauser would be on the bench.
When the Celtics put him back with the second unit, Scheierman has also proven how much of a basketball chameleon he is. He can adapt to any situation, any role and still be the same player. That's not always an easy transition to make and not all players can do it, but he can.
When contenders draft at the end of the first round, they take guys who they believe will help round out their rotation. Scheierman might not be a star in the making, but it's clear Brad Stevens nailed the pick in 2024.