Celtics rookies Abdel Nader and Guerschon Yabusele ready for camp

by **bobheckler** Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:17 pm

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/20170817/celtics-rookies-abdel-nader-and-guerschon-yabusele-ready-for-camp?rssfeed=true

Celtics rookies Abdel Nader and Guerschon Yabusele ready for camp

By Scott Souza/Daily News Staff

Posted at 7:00 PM
Updated at 7:09 PM

SALEM, N.H. — While the start of Celtics training camp may be a month away, the march of players into the team’s practice facility within the next week is a sure sign the season is just around the corner.

Rookies Abdel Nader and Guerschon Yabusele both said Thursday during a trip to Canobie Lake Park with a few dozen very excited kids from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children that they expect to begin informal team workouts in Waltham starting Monday.

Yabusele said he is looking forward to returning to the court for full basketball activities for the first time since having surgery to remove bone spurs in his ankles in May.

“Feeling great,” he said before the Celtics Shamrock Foundation event. “Real happy to be back in Boston. Ready to go. The surgery was a long time ago. I have the green light so I’m feeling good.”

The 16th pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Yabusele agreed to play overseas for a season where he played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He came back to Boston late in the NBA season hoping to get in some work with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League, but was hobbled by an ankle injury suffered during the CBA playoffs.

He had surgery in late May and was forced to miss the Celtics summer leagues in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, but said he is ready to go for the pre-camp workouts.

“I am really focused on this year getting out on the court playing and showing everybody what I can do to help the team have the most wins,” the 21-year-old native of France said. “They had a great season last year. Hopefully we will have one like that too this year.”

While there had been some talk that the Celtics might want the 6-foot-8 forward to play a second season overseas to maintain roster and financial flexibility, he signed his NBA contract in July.

“That was great for me for my confidence,” he said of the bridge year. “Offensively, I played better. When I’m on the court, I know what I’m doing. It really helped me a lot to be a little more pro than I was.”

Nader elected to take a different path last season after he was chosen with the 58th pick in the second round out of Iowa State in 2016, but one that also landed him a guaranteed contract with the Celtics this summer.

Nader agreed to play the entire season in Maine and was named NBA Developmental League Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, while leading the team with 99 3-pointers.

He signed a four-year deal with the Celtics reportedly worth up to $6 million during this past summer league.

“It’s kind of just like — I earned it,” said the 23-year-old native of Egypt. “I went up there, worked hard, did the things I needed to do. It’s an unbelievable feeling to live out your dream and knowing you really had to work for it.

“It was a tough decision (to play in Maine) because I turned down some lucrative offers. Anytime you turn down a lot of money, a lot of people wouldn’t have done that. I bet on myself, had faith in myself, and it’s paid off.”

Nader and Yabusele will see a lot of new faces in Waltham in the coming weeks with only six of the up to 20 training camp players on the roster back from the team that played in the Eastern Conference finals three months ago.

“That kind of makes it fun,” Nader said. “There are a lot of new personalities. It’s a new experience. I know a lot of the guys, have followed their careers, so I think it will be fun. There are a lot of hard workers, a lot of talented guys.”

Pierce to be honored this season

Celtics managing partner Steve Pagliuca confirmed what many expected on Thursday when he said that a ceremony to retire Paul Pierce’s No. 34 will be held sometime this upcoming season.

Pagliuca said late Thursday morning the date of the event would be “coming out imminently.”

“For our era — the most recent era — he kind of embodied Celtics leadership and the Celtics brand,” he said. “He was the MVP of a championship team. It’s going to be fantastic to see that happen.”

bob

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