Boston Celtics summer decisions: How much will rookies like Romeo Langford & Grant Williams play?

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Boston Celtics summer decisions: How much will rookies like Romeo Langford & Grant Williams play?




Updated 12:22 PM; Today 12:19 PM



Boston Celtics 2019 basketball draft players show off their jerseys at a news conference, Monday, June 24, 2019, in Boston. From left are Carsen Edwards, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford and Tremont Waters. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)




By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com and John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com




The Boston Celtics are almost back to training camp, but before the regular season starts, they have several interesting decisions to make. MassLive’s Celtics beat writers will outline a few of them in our last summer series: Celtics summer decisions. Next up: How much will the rookies play?


TOM WESTERHOLM

The Celtics weren’t expected to use all of their picks this season, and they didn’t -- they traded down and acquired more picks with one of them, while putting together a solid draft night with all of the others.

Now they have yet another interesting roster situation: A starting lineup full of veterans, and a second unit which could be made of mostly rookies on certain nights. Those rookies, of course, are Romeo Langford, Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards (no, Tacko Fall will not be a major part of the rotation), and all three bring something intriguing to the table.

Langford didn’t play at Summer League, but my guess is he will crack the rotation quickly. He’s a high-level slasher and an elite finisher who earns trips to the free-throw line, while providing play-making off the bounce at 6-foot-6 with great measurables. While much has been made (justifiably) of Williams and Edwards, Langford has the highest ceiling of the bunch if he can get his 3-point percentages to a respectable range.

But Williams seems to be a likely candidate for the most minutes of the trio in their rookie campaigns. He might be able to steal some minutes as a small-ball center in a five-out lineup, and he has a tendency to help teams win minutes that he’s on the floor. Brad Stevens is the type of coach who notices the little things, and Williams is a known provider of the little things. This year’s Celtics’ team will be more focused on wins than development, which should open up chances for Williams.

Edwards, meanwhile, is a no-brainer plug-and-play candidate -- the type of scorer with limitless confidence who can space the floor and give you a couple of quick triples in 10-15 minutes off the bench. He won’t start, but he will get chances.

We should also probably mention Tremont Waters, who looked excellent in Summer League but will probably be squeezed a little bit by the number of point guards in the rotation. If the Celtics suffer a rash of injuries, Waters should be able to fill in nicely.

The rookies are all solid, but the toughest questions for Brad Stevens may revolve around their development. Kemba Walker didn’t sign a max deal to watch a bunch of kids develop, and if Gordon Hayward is good, the Celtics may need to give him a reason to stick around. Both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will be playing for extensions. How do you tell those guys that unproven rookies should eat into their minutes?

All that said, the Celtics -- somehow, after the debacle that was last season -- are still in something of an enviable position. They have talented young players, plenty of picks still remaining and enough talent to give those rookies a big stage early. How they perform on that stage could make a big difference this year.


JOHN KARALIS

There wasn’t a lot of buzz around the Celtics draft this year (Tom’s note: Hey, come on now!). They didn’t have a lottery pick and it was pretty obvious to everyone at the time that Kyrie Irving was on his way out the door, so Celtics fans were focused elsewhere.

The Celtics, though, managed to have themselves a pretty nice night. We’ve seen Williams, Edwards, and Waters have very nice summer league performances. Fall became an instant sensation. And while all the focus has been on how much fun it’s already been to watch this group of rookies, their most talented draftee, Langford, is waiting to show what he can do.

But summer success is one thing. It’s fall now, which means the big boys are coming back to play. How much run can these rookies actually get?

I doubt Waters or Fall will play much for the Celtics this season (which is a shame, because I really wanted to use the line ‘don’t go chasing Waters, Fall’ somewhere), which leaves three prime candidates for playing time.

Langford is a bit of a mystery at this level right now. We know the Celtics have been working on his jump shot and they feel they could have the steal of this draft if they can straighten that out. It’s possible he can find some accuracy pretty quickly and make an impact, but that’s probably unlikely.

Tweaking jump shot form takes a while, and considering the long recovery from his thumb surgery, it might be best if Boston let Romeo work out the kinks in a low-pressure G-League assignment. There’s no real reason to rush him onto an NBA floor if there’s a glaring weakness in his game. It can be the type of confidence-killer that takes longer to fix than a janky jumper.

Edwards’ jumper, meanwhile, is pure. His fearlessness and offensive aggressiveness could earn him some solid playing time. His size might be an issue, but his tenacity on both ends of the floor could help overcome that for the short stretches he’s in the game.

Brad Stevens will probably call on Edwards when others are having cold shooting nights. He could be a “break glass in case of emergency” option on the bench to come in and get hot in a hurry. He’ll almost certainly find himself getting good minutes if anything happens to Kemba Walker or Marcus Smart. Even if one of them just takes a game off, Edwards could challenge Brad Wanamaker for playing time.

Even if Edwards does find his way into the lineup, my choice for big rookie minutes is Grant Williams. Mostly, I just believe he fits a big need for this team.

Williams’ selfless style will be useful among a group of players looking to score points. His willingness to be a do-it-all guy who isn’t focused on his own offense means he can be plugged into most situations without fear of disrupting any flow.

Of course, Williams’ biggest challenge is to perform these tasks at an NBA level and speed. Boxing out summer league scrubs is different than keeping Andre Drummond off the boards. Seeing the right pass is great in Las Vegas, but making it when Kawhi Leonard is hawking passing lanes is a few levels up from that.

Williams is a smart kid, though, and he seems to learn quickly. He’s strong and versatile. If he can solidify his pick-and-pop game and be a threat from 3-point land, he’ll have a good chance to make in impact right away.



bob
MY NOTE:  I agree that Romeo should spend some time in Maine this year especially if he's changed his jump shot.  I'm putting some faith in Danny and Brad here, but I have to believe there's a reason why they picked Romeo with #14.  It would make no sense whatsoever if they didn't see a big upside to a player who had mediocre numbers his last college season.  I know about the torn ligament in his thumb but that isn't enough to offset his numbers to get picked #14, there has to be more potential there.  If I'm right then Romeo could become very valuable to this team and he'll get 30+mpg in Maine while he might be lucky to get 13 in Boston.  So, send him north and let him run a team, let him throw up a ton of shots, do it early so he's ready to make an impact in March.  Wing is not one of the positions we are thin at, we'll survive just well while he's there and, if we have an injury and need him in Boston then he'll get his minutes there.  Either way he needs minutes.


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Romeo was a curious pick because you already have 3 wings including B2B #3 selections and a more glaring need was at the 4.

Yet we should consider Romeo as a replacement for Brown or even Hayward.  

Romeo remains a ? as a shooter.

dboss wrote:Romeo was a curious pick because you already have 3 wings including B2B #3 selections and a more glaring need was at the 4.

Yet we should consider Romeo as a replacement for Brown or even Hayward.  

Romeo remains a ? as a shooter.

dboss,

That would be the one explanation I can see for having drafted Langford.

I think he's kind of a crapshoot; big risk drafting him, but hope for a big reward. He did OK in college, winning a few Big 10 Frosh awards, but should that be enough to indicate he should be a relatively high draft pick? I know... the thumb. It's all based on his high school performance, and he didn't even go to a prep school and face top high school competition. Granted, he did earn Mr. Indiana Basketball. But, again, that's not a prep school honor and he didn't play the toughest competition in winning it.

I think G Williams has a chance to get more minutes between the two. Anyone who might be able to grab a board and defend should play some.

Hopefully Langford is the pearl in the oyster. That really would allow Boston to be cautious and not spend too much on Brown, and provide insurance on Hayward.

Regards

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Romeo was a curious pick because you already have 3 wings including B2B #3 selections and a more glaring need was at the 4.

Yet we should consider Romeo as a replacement for Brown or even Hayward.  

Romeo remains a ? as a shooter.

dboss,

That would be the one explanation I can see for having drafted Langford.

I think he's kind of a crapshoot; big risk drafting him, but hope for a big reward. He did OK in college, winning a few Big 10 Frosh awards, but should that be enough to indicate he should be a relatively high draft pick? I know... the thumb. It's all based on his high school performance, and he didn't even go to a prep school and face top high school competition. Granted, he did earn Mr. Indiana Basketball. But, again, that's not a prep school honor and he didn't play the toughest competition in winning it.

I think G Williams has a chance to get more minutes between the two. Anyone who might be able to grab a board and defend should play some.

Hopefully Langford is the pearl in the oyster. That really would allow Boston to be cautious and not spend too much on Brown, and provide insurance on Hayward.

Regards

NYCelt Romeo was a top 5 coming out of H.S. He will get some run.

I agree that GW will win PT. He is more advanced that Romeo. Both of them along with Carson give us 3 interesting options for rotation minutes. I actually think GW may get a few starts. There really is no established 4 on the team.

Right dboss Romeo is going to be playing at our deepest position, G Will’s position is our biggest question mark....having said that must be a reason Romeo was rated so high in HS.