The Case for Starting RJ Hunter

SB NATION

By isaiahthomas4 on Jul 19, 2015, 4:01a

I know I lost some of you with the title, but hear me out, because this idea is not as ridiculous as it might seem.

Offense:
On a team with a glut of guards it is absolutely essential for a player competing for minutes to have at least one skill which sets him apart. RJ has a skill; he can shoot the three ball like nobody’s business. The most important part about having a sharpshooter like Hunter may not actually be the points he contributes, but rather the effect his abilities have on the spacing of an offense. We know that Brad values spacing very highly, evidenced by the fact that he wanted just about everyone on the roster taking threes last year. The problem is that while Brad wanted the guys shooting threes (13th most threes attempted last year) they couldn’t make them to save their lives (27th worst 3P% last year). If Hunter starts at the 2, opposing defenses will be forced to respect him on the perimeter and the defense will open up a bit. Here’s where Hunter’s backcourt mate, Marcus Smart, will come into play. With the defense stretched out more than Smart has experienced before at the professional level, he’ll have the room necessary to do what he should be doing on offense: attacking the hoop. RJ’s skillset will allow Smart to use his strength and vision to (hopefully) drive to the hoop and finish at the rim or dish to the wing.

An added bonus resulting from starting RJ would be having another playmaker in the backcourt. In Summer League, RJ has shown his tremendous vision and excellent passing instincts. As I’m sure many of you have heard, RJ’s dad/college coach has said that RJ’s greatest skill is actually his passing, not his shooting. A 2 with the ability to pass and make plays, or really do anything beside shooting off the pick and roll, would be a revelation after AB.

Defense:
While RJ’s defense in college has been considered rather uninspiring, a lot of his shortcomings can be attributed to the fact that Georgia State played a zone defense most of the year; RJ’s skills lend themselves more to the man defenses at the NBA level. RJ’s smart and attentive on defense; he won’t do anything stupid and he won’t give up on plays. His nearly 6’11" wingspan allows him to disrupt passing lanes and rack up steals. He averaged 2.1 steals per game his final year at Georgia State. It should also be noted that Hunter is fairly agile. He ran a 2.91 shuttle at the combine, a number which compares favorably to the likes of defensively minded guards Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton. The only cause for concern with Hunter on the defensive end is his build; RJ weighed in at 185 pounds at the Combine. More physical guards will be able to push Hunter around, but you could cover for his lack of strength with Smart’s tremendous versatility. You can put Smart on whichever guard is better on the offensive end and RJ can guard the less impactful player. With Hunter’s work ethic, penchant for studying film, and physical tools, there’s no reason to believe he can’t be an adequate defender in the NBA, or eventually a plus defender.

Competition:
In order to start at the 2, RJ would have to supplant veteran SG Avery Bradley. Bradley is an absolute lockdown perimeter defender, a skill which makes him extremely valuable in today’s perimeter oriented game. RJ may have a bit more defensive versatility (provided he puts on some weight), given that he has half a foot on Bradley, but Bradley is clearly the better defender. As important as a lockdown defender is, the Celtics are in desperate need of scoring. Avery Bradley has evolved into a perfectly average shooter, but nothing more. Each of the last two years, Bradley’s TS% has been hovering around 51%, which pales in comparison to RJ’s career TS% of nearly 58%. RJ is clearly the better shooter. Bradley averaged 1.8 APG in 31.5 MPG compared to Hunter’s 3.6 APG in 37 MPG. Hunter is the better facilitator. Bradley is the better defender while Hunter is the better offensive player, so the question comes down to fit with the other starters.

FWIW Hunter had 2.5 DWS last year compared to Bradley’s 2.1. In fact, Bradley’s total WS last year was 2.5 which Hunter matched on the defensive end alone. Hunter’s WS was a staggering 6.9 last year.
Even if I’ve overestimated RJ’s ability to cope defensively in the NBA, his fellow defensively-minded starters (Smart, Crowder, and Johnson) would be able to compensate for Hunter’s shortcomings.

Conclusion:
RJ Hunter brings a new dimension to the Celtics on the offensive end and probably won’t be too much of a liability on the defensive end. He’s an exciting young player with boatloads of potential that we’d be foolish to waste. Beyond the idea of developing a promising young player, I genuinely believe that starting RJ Hunter will make the Celtics a better basketball team.

Thanks for reading this long-winded and probably confusing write-up (it’s late and I’m tired). I’d love to hear what you guys think; I’ve got my flame retardant suit at the ready

112288

Although I'm not a major Bradley fan, Avery does have experience and can sometimes get hot from outside to complement his defense. I'd like to see more outside shooting consistency from Hunter before considering him as a potential starter. Oddly, I believe RJ's greatest offensive advantage over Bradley could be something the author didn't mention: the ability to elude blocks while taking the ball to the hoop and finishing reasonably well.

However, if Avery were traded, the picture would obviously change. Then, for my money, the decision about installing Hunter as the starting SG could hinge largely on whether Smart is cutting it at PG. If he's not; and, if Rozier is making progress at PG, it might be wise to move Smart to SG and assign Rozier to PG in the starting lineup.

So much depends on the progress some of these guys make during the summer and their showings at training camp. Barring a trade, Even Turner could also enter the picture at either starting PG or starting SG. Throw in trade possibilities, and the next three and one-half months could be the most interesting such period in recent memory.

Sam

I have to think that Ainge is still on the lookout for a center to share the spot with Zeller.  It will take some pieces to procure this player so Bradley may be involved in such a trade.

But, even if Bradley is traded I am not sure yet if Hunter would be ready to start for the Celtics.  Yes, he has looked good this summer and there appears to be no question that he is a worker and likely will continue to get better and better, but being ready in late November to start games on what we hope is going to be a good team in the NBA might be a stretch for him.

I certainly hope that he proves me wrong, but not many 27 th picks are capable of starting in the NBA right at the beginning of their rookie years.  Lets see what he does in preseason and preseason games before we put the added pressure  on him.

Just a guess, but I believe that, by the start of the season, Hunter will be able to give a pretty good account of himself on offense (and I'm including his poise and basketball IQ in that equation).  It'll be the other end of the floor that will probably be more of a test.

Sam

He's not Larry Bird.  He's not Magic Johnson.   He's not an obvious future HOFer and franchise player.  Can we at least wait until he laces up a pair of NBA sneakers before we start building his statue?

Has he even been signed yet?

Sheesh.

bob


.

Premature conjecture?

Sam