The Sophomore Celtics: 2021
With Tremont Waters just recently securing the G-League Rookie of the Year award, I wanted to talk about how well I think the current rookies will perform next season. Will one of them be a bust? Will any get traded? Will one become a consistent rotational piece for Boston? Nobody can know for sure.
Letās start off with the two point guards Tremont Waters and Carsen Edwards. In my personal opinion, I donāt think they both work on the same team together. Itās hard finding minutes for two sub-six foot guards in a rotation. That being said, I do think one of them has the potential and talent to be a backup point guard for the Celtics starting as soon as next season. Spoiler alert - itās not the guy Ainge gave a four year contract to.
Tremont Waters, as weāve recently seen, is as solid as they come both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He won awards for his defense in college, and as previously mentioned, just picked up Rookie of the Year in the G-League. During his time in Maine, he averaged 18.0 points, 7.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. On top of that, he did so while shooting 49% from the field, 36% from three, and 78% from the free throw line. I think Tremont has the potential to be the backup point guard on the Celtics very soon. Brad Wanamaker is filling that role pretty well right now, but in a year or twoās time, the spot is Waters' to lose in my opinion.
Now Iām not saying I donāt like Carsen Edwards, heās just had so many struggles this season. When with the Celtics, he only shot 32.7% from the field and 30.9% from three. It was a vastly different player from the one we saw in the Summer League and even the preseason. Carsen played a little better in the G-League, but still only managed to shoot around 28% from three and 43% from the field. It was just underwhelming after everyone thought he could come in and make an immediate impact. In my opinion, I think the situation just isnāt right for Edwards. I believe he would thrive on a team where he can take a bunch of shots and get his confidence up. A team like Detroit or even New York would be a decent fit because of the fact that theyāre rebuilding and looking for any young talent they can find. Ideally, a trade of Edwards, a first, and a second for a guy like Christian Wood would be amazing in my opinion. Carsen just needs a little time to adjust to the league, is all.
Moving on to Romeo Langford. We saw him take some big leaps forward by the end of the year, notably in that Atlanta game where he played a huge role for the Celtics. He even hit a clutch shot near the end of the game. Langford just seems like the stereotypical scoring wing, and I think he could fit in nicely in the current Celtics rotation. Iāve been saying for a while that I believe the biggest need for the current Celtics roster is more shooting off the bench, so if Romeo can improve his percentages and defense, then heād fit into the system perfectly. Whether this happens next year or a few years down the line, I donāt know, but I do think it will happen eventually.
Then thereās Grant Williams. In my opinion, the best rookie Boston drafted this previous year, and the most NBA ready by far. Heās played some big time minutes this year, so I think if he can continue to grow as a player and get better, heās more than earned a spot in next yearās rotation. Grantās basketball IQ alone should be enough to get him into a bunch of rotations throughout the NBA. Also, ever since his slump to start out the year, heās been shooting really well from three. Add to all this his elite defensive potential and you have yourself a rotational guy if Iāve ever seen one. Maybe even something more.
Now Iāve saved the most intriguing for last - Tacko Fall. Iāve talked about Tacko on some of my recent podcasts (From the Rafters) and every guest has a similar opinion. Heās way too unique a talent to get rid of, and all he has to do is polish up his game a little to be good enough to earn minutes. Being freakishly tall, even by NBA standards, is enough to get him into the league, but his work ethic is what will keep him there. I expect him to earn more minutes little by little these next few years until heās ready to play real backup center minutes. Weāll see, though.
Maybe Iām a little biased because I love them all so much, but I genuinely think all 5 of the Celticsā rookies from this year have the potential to be something in the NBA. Itās just a matter of when.
