Stepping back as sun sets on summer league for Celtics

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Stepping back as sun sets on summer league for Celtics Empty Stepping back as sun sets on summer league for Celtics

Post by bobheckler Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:37 am

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2017/07/bulpett_stepping_back_as_sun_sets_on_summer_league_for_celtics



Bulpett: Stepping back as sun sets on summer league for Celtics



Steve Bulpett


Monday, July 17, 2017



Stepping back as sun sets on summer league for Celtics 070917ojeleye001
Credit: AP photo
OVER THE TOP: Celtics rookie forward Semi Ojeleye shoots over Portland’s Caleb Swanigan during their summer league game Sunday night in Las Vegas.



LAS VEGAS — Putting the wraps on summer league after the Celtics have departed and I prepare to stick it out until the bitter championship end tonight. . . .

• The Celts might be set for a while with their roster, but look for more changes this season.

The Shamrocks simply have too many people for whom they’d like to find meaningful time (“First world problem,” is how assistant general manager Mike Zarren put it), and it seems they’ll be looking to loosen up some logjams before next February’s trade deadline.

Zarren didn’t say that latter part, but it’s fairly evident that the math doesn’t work when you’re trying to fit all they have and want to use into 240 minutes.

It will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes itself out to whatever degree that’s possible, but clearly the Celtics would like some players to separate themselves from the pack. In one of the only times Brad Stevens has been questioned by the players during his Boston tenure, there were grumblings when he didn’t have a set rotation. That ignored the fact that the coach would have loved to be more consistent with his substitution pattern, but he was still waiting for players to step up and command roles.

With the 15 players the Celts will have once they complete all their paperwork, there are five wild cards or developmental sorts. They hope Ante Zizic will be able to help at some point as he becomes accustomed to the NBA pace, and while Stevens is certainly high on Semi Ojeleye’s defensive prowess, the kid can also stretch the floor. It’s hard to say whether Guerschon Yabusele will fit into the plans, though it’s a lock that the Garden will be pleading for the Dancing Bear at least late in games.

Abdel Nader is coming off a very strong year in the D-League (now G-League), and Daniel Theis is probably headed up I-95 to Maine.

Back in the center ring, we know Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford will be getting all the time they need, and Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier will see their roles increased in Avery Bradley’s absence.

We’ll wait to see how Stevens plans to use big man Aron Baynes, but even if the C’s are going smaller, there may be some trouble giving Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum all the time they deserve. That will certainly be the case if Tatum breaks out early.

So as much as depth is desirable, the Celtics will no doubt be ready to make one or more deals should they become available. They’ve got good young talent under friendly contracts, so even before teams start looking at the club’s draft stash, there is room for discussion.

• Two teams told me they were trying to trade up to get into the late first round when they saw Ojeleye was available.

“He was definitely a first-round talent,” said one general manager. “He can score from a number of places on the floor, and you just don’t see guys coming into the league with his kind of strength. He’s strong even for a veteran.”

Cracked Celts assistant coach Jamie Young, “When’s the last time you saw biceps like that — other than on me.”

• Jordan Mickey was drawing some quick interest around the league after he was waived by the Celts.

The big question teams have is why, if the Celtics were having rebounding trouble, they didn’t give him more of a look.

Mickey was a fairly dominant player for the Red Claws, averaging 20.8 points last season while improving his range greatly to hit 14-of-32 treys in 12 games. The flashier number is his 3.8 blocks per game over his two years in Maine.

• Joked with Celtics coach Walter McCarty at the Vegas Summer League that he was holding Scoochie Smith back because Dayton had beaten Kentucky the last time they played (1999, before Smith was a Flyer and after McCarty was a Wildcat).

Alex Barlow piped in.


“It was in Cincinnati. I was at that game,” said the C’s video assistant, whose family has Dayton season tickets.

• New Celtics assistant coach Scott Morrison, formerly the Red Claws coach, has volunteered to step in for the departed Kelly Olynyk and give me someone to talk hockey with this season. Morrison is a Canadian from Prince Edward Island.

• We discussed Zizic earlier, but here’s team president Danny Ainge on the young Croatian import: “We really like Ante. We think he can really help us this year. I mean, Ante was a very good player against the top European competition, and that usually translates over here. But it definitely, at age 20, will take him some time. He’s not going to be ready to dominate now, but we think that he’s got a very bright future.”



bob
MY NOTE:  Theis is going to Maine?  If so that's probably just so he can get heavy minutes learning Brad's playbook, although I don't understand why 25 year old Euro Champion and DPOY Daniel Theis would need that "break-in period" but 20-year old Ante Zizic and Guerschon Yabusele (who only played a few games with the Red Claws and NO summer league games) wouldn't need it too.  Inquiring minds want to know.  If Theis does spend time in Maine learning the ropes then we are ridiculously, unbelievably thin at big.


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bobheckler
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Post by mulcogiseng Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:21 am

Now that summer league is over its all just BS until training camp. Nobody will really know anything until these guys get on the floor and start competing. I may not be able to hold my breath until October but I can sure hold my nose. Smile
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Post by wideclyde Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:27 am

Bob,

Even if Theis does not need time in Maine we are still very shallow in the 'big' department. Probably too heavy in the 'swings' department as well which makes me think that another trade is coming down prior to the season even if our roster has been very much been retooled this summer for much more small ball emphasis.

If we are not in a small ball setting, and we won't be able to play small ball all the time against every team, we only have Horford, Baynes and Zizic as true bigs. Horford is much more of a small ball player, Baynes is a big big and so is Zizic, but Zizic is a raw rookie who may or may not be able to help win games in his very first season. Morris is listed at 6'9 but has not played big as a power NBA forward very often. Theis is a NBA rookie even if he has played in a German league.

There are at least five guys who can play wing on this team and that does not count two other guys (Morris and Smart) who have played their for various reasons just last season. Crowder, Tatum, Brown, and Hayward should get the most minutes, but Olejewe and Nader further crowd the list as they can play there as well. And even the Bird kid seems to be able to play wing.

Morris will be needed pretty much full time at the power forward and Smart and perhaps Nader will need to play some point guard while Crowder can help at power forward with Ojelewe and Theis, but still too many wingish guys to play them all either to win games or develop experience for the younger guys.

Many of the young guys can flip back and forth to Portland, but that does nothing to give us at least one more big for the varsity team. Getting out rebounded last year did not have everything to with being big and tall, but until we rebound much better as a team big and tall is not a bad place to have some depth on what looks to be a good team again this season.

Speights always seemed to move well. Can he rebound? I kind of bite my tongue on this one, but Zeller may fit back onto our roster for the minimum wage veteran.

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Post by cowens/oldschool Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:42 am

what about Yabu?

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Post by wideclyde Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:57 am

Cowens,

I did forget Yabusele.

I think that I would consider him a "swing" more than a 'big' at this time further crowding the position on our team even if he has a very wide body, but he could play some small ball power forward if he is NBA ready this year. His highlight reel stuff from China did not show me that he is a true 'big' or that he is NBA ready yet, but I could be wrong (again?).

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