The Boston Celtics are expected to begin Summer League play on July 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers. After an anticipated wait, they have finally announced their roster. While most of the team is compiled of their draft picks over the past couple of years, they also have four undrafted rookies on the team – three were with Maine last season.
There isn’t a lot of room on Boston’s NBA roster, so there shouldn’t be any surprise additions to the team after these games in July. Still, the Celtics have one of the most intriguing teams this summer, and should have a very successful month.
The Celtics front office will be looking at players to see how NBA-ready they feel their newly drafted rookies are, and the development their second-year players have made. There should be a lot of familiar faces on the court and a lot of position battles between these young players that could decide who will be in the rotation at the start of the year.
Terry Rozier: Technically Rozier comes into Summer League play with the second most NBA minutes on the team, but, in reality, he has seen more valuable minutes than James Young. That should lead him to do very well in his second Summer League season.
Rozier is coming off a rookie season in which he was up-and-down from the D-League and NBA, and didn’t become a regular part of the rotation until the end of the season. Although, he stepped up when called upon in the playoffs, after an Avery Bradley injury, and averaged 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds during the postseason.
Rozier has never been a great outside shooter – 22.2 percent from three as a rookie, 30.6 percent as a sophomore at Louisville. Improving on that part of his game will help him see more significant minutes in the NBA. Continuing to be a solid defender and rebounder will also instill a lot of confidence in Boston as the young guard is expected to have a bigger role next season with the departure of Evan Turner.
R.J. Hunter: He struggled as a rookie, to say the least. He only appeared in 36 games with the Celtics and couldn’t stand out in any certain area, which forced Brad Stevens to keeping him on the bench. In fact, the one area he was brought in to help with, three-point shooting, he flopped in.
He shot a brutal 30.2 percent from three, and was 1-of-5 in the playoffs when his role expanded due to an injured team. To make matters worse, he only shot 29.6 percent from deep in the D-League last season, but still attempted 6.8 threes per contest in his eight games.
Hope is not lost for the second-year shooting guard. He’ll see heavy minutes in Summer League to prove he’s still a reliable three-point shooter. That and not playing as timid will help his case, although it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be able to crack the rotation after the Celtics selected Jaylen Brown.
Jordan Mickey: Last year’s second round pick only appeared in 16 games for Boston, playing in 57 minutes. He didn’t see any significant time as a rookie in the NBA, but he did make a name for himself in the D-League.
In 23 games, Mickey averaged a double-double (17.4 points, 10.3 rebounds) and led the league with 4.4 blocks per contest. He was arguably the most dominating big man down there last year, as his offensive game – 53.1 field-goal percentage – is farther along than Boston was expecting.
With the Celtics lack of rim protection last season, minutes are there for Jordan Mickey next season, especially if Jared Sullinger and Jonas Jerebko aren’t brought back. He’ll have his chance to prove he can play center effectively – the Celtics weakest position – and dominating Summer like he did to the D-League will force Brad Stevens to give him at least a little playing
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