Shooting has been one of the Boston Celtics‘ most significant issues for the past two seasons.
While Boston’s plethora of slashers are capable of keeping the team in games on a nightly basis, it’s becoming increasingly clear that their lack of reliable outside shooting, and the space that shooting creates, is hindering the team’s chances at success.
Outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Grant Williams is the only member of the roster who can be relied upon to hit the three-ball consistently. NBA Stats has the Celtics ranked 23rd in the NBA for three-point percentage as of December 22, strengthening the notion that their shooting is a primary concern.
However, Boston does have some talented young shooters on their roster, but they’ve yet to be given the opportunity, and the green light, to start making a difference to the bench unit’s spacing.
Payton Pritchard ended his rookie year as a 41.1% three-point shooter on four attempts per game but has struggled for consistent playing time this season. In comparison, Aaron Nesmith came into the league billed as a sharpshooting wing and shot 37% from deep as a rookie, but his playing time was inconsistent under Ime Udoka.
Boston Should Give Young Guys Extended Minutes
In a recent episode of the Celtics Talk podcast, former Brooklyn Nets assistant GM and NBA insider Bobby Marks discussed the Celtics’ current crop of youngsters and noted that they should be getting increased minutes to show what they’re capable of.
“Eventually, you need your former picks to play extended minutes because you gotta know what you have. Because maybe you got something good that you’re not getting in that 10-12 minute range, but when they’re playing 20-25 minutes, this guy has hit that development phase,” Marks told Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.
Part of Boston’s problem is that they acquired multiple veterans during the off-season, which has blocked the path to minutes for Pritchard and Nesmith. However, none of the veterans who joined the team during the summer are shooters, which has further hindered the team’s spacing, thus making life more difficult for Tatum and Brown when driving the lane.
“The former draft picks, whether Grant Williams, Langford, Nesmith, or Payton Pritchard, who finally started to play a bit more, but you need 2 out of those 4, maybe three out of those 4 in a perfect world, to develop into a main role. And some nights they are, some nights they’re not,” Marks said.
Another part of the Celtics’ struggles is Udoka’s five-out offensive system, which sees all members of the rotation lineup beyond the three-point line on offense. This type of offensive game plan works well when you have three or four shooters on the floor because it stretches out the defense and creates countless driving and cutting opportunities. However, if you’re struggling to worry teams from deep, they’re going to sag off a little bit and make penetrating a problematic task.
Young Guys Are Getting Opportunities
With COVID running rampant around the NBA and the Celtics having been hit with multiple rotation players going into health and safety protocols, some of the younger contingents are seeing increased minutes.
On December 19, Nesmith got his first start of the season against the New York Knicks, while Pritchard has been one of the Celtics’ better performers in the last two games. Both of the sophomore players have been impressive in their own right, with Nesmith providing solid defense and Pritchard displaying an ability to quarterback an offense while also providing spacing when operating off-ball.
However, despite the performances of Boston’s two sophomores, the likelihood of them remaining in the rotation once the veteran contingent returns from their isolation periods are slim. And here is the issue, the Celtics know that Dennis Schroder and Josh Richardson are short-term fixes and that Pritchard and Nesmith need to continue developing to become valuable contributors or enticing trade chips. Still, the team doesn’t have the minutes to allow them room to grow.
With the trade deadline getting closer by the day, it could make sense for Brad Stevens to make a couple of moves and open up a path to more prominent roles for the two shooting sophomores, and who knows, perhaps their ability to hit the three could open up the roster to future success.
Celtics Need Young Players to Step Up: Insider