The Undrafted
The Celtics saw their roster upended with the chaos that followed an equally-disorganized 2018-19 campaign, with the team needing bodies to replenish its roster — particularly the frontcourt — after a number of high-profile defections.
They accomplished this with a few key veteran signings, but also brought in a few rookies who weren’t drafted to fill out the depths of the rotation with an eye for developing them into rotation players with a little luck; we’ll start here.
Tacko Fall
While there are times it feels like the Senegalese center has already arrived based on fan reactions to him checking into a game (or for that matter, the numbers of fan votes for the 2020 NBA All-Star game), it’s important to remember he’s only played in four contests at the NBA level, and has averaged just 5.3 minutes of play in them.
The paucity of run with the Celtics has been offset by strong play at the G League level, the UCF prospect still struggling with basic defensive concepts and bread-and-butter offensive tactics — though he has made noteworthy progress on both ends, too.
While he won’t likely play his way into a regular contract this season, Fall shows signs of shaping into a useful rotation player perhaps as soon as next season, already recording 4.3 points, 2.5 boards and .5 blocks per game in such limited minutes.
Javonte Green
Initially seen in Las Vegas Summer League as the dunking machine the Radford product just so happens to be, Green has since shown himself to be an excellent defender and high-energy depth player able to come into almost any contest and add some quick points off the bench.
Despite Green’s uber-athletic in-game dunking, it’s the other things he does that earned him a spot on Boston’s regular season roster, and he’s done well with the 7.8 minutes per game he’s being given.
Logging 2.9 points and 1.5 rebounds a contest on a very efficient 55.4 % from the floor, the Virginian looks like he might play his way into another NBA deal if he can maintain this level of play.
Vincent Poirier
Vinnie Sexpants — as he has become known thanks to Weird Celtics Twitter — hasn’t gotten much run this season, but that’s not entirely his fault.
When the season started, he had the biggest adjustments of any player to make save perhaps Tacko Fall, coming from a league and system that forced him to change how he plays the game. Not long after he started to find his footing, he broke a finger, and just returned to action this week.
Even still, he’s managed to get 4.9 minutes of playing time per contest to date, putting up 1.7 points and 1.5 boards per game. His efficiency needs work, as he’s not shooting 3-pointers yet still only connecting on 41.2 % of his shots and shooting almost all of his shots near-basket.
While it’s probably too soon to judge his adaptation to the NBA because of how his season has gone, he’s definitely got his work cut out for him in the second half of the season if he wants to stick in this league.
HBD Celtics rookie Tremont Waters!
👀 This move…pic.twitter.com/pI7cQB5kfu— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 11, 2020