Boston Celtics notes: James Young cleared for Orlando Magic game

SB NATION

Boston Celtics notes: James Young cleared for Orlando Magic game


Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told reporters in Orlando that rookie James Young has been cleared for contact and will be available Tuesday night against the Magic.

Young may not receive any minutes, of course, but the 19-year-old wing made it through Monday afternoon's practice -- his first practice with full contact since suffering a right shoulder injury while playing for the Maine Red Claws on Dec. 10.

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Please, Brad, let him show his stuff! The best thing that could happen to the Celtics would be if the post-Rondo era became the James Young era. This kid can flat out play. He's the best pure shooter on this team in a long time (okay, since Pierce - but who before him?).

Are you still wondering what lit Jeff Green's fire this season? Ever consider that it may have been seeing Young? What if it turns out that Young's middle name is Clutch? All agree we need that conscience-less shooter to take over in the 4th quarter; maybe he's been sitting on the bench quietly waiting his turn.

I would like to see this kid get at least enough minutes in the next couple of weeks for a couple of reasons.

Looking at Young now will greatly determine if the Celtics need to decide what to do with Jeff Green.
If Young flourishes and shows that he has "it" even if he needs additional development (which he will), trading Green before the trading deadline is not a bad idea. If Young flops, I think that keeping Green for the rest of this year is pretty important, and signing him again could be worthwhile.

If Young shows lots of promise in the next few weeks as the small forward of the near future, there is no reason not to get involved with finding a center immediately. This may mean using Green as the prime player in such a trade. Waiting and hoping to get the team's next center in this year's draft does not seem to be a good gamble to me.

His problem seems to be staying healthy. You can't give him any minutes if he misses camp because he's out with a concussion and then gets dinged up in Maine.

Smart and Young are both having trouble staying healthy. I wonder if that is happening to rookies league-wide.



bob




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