Taking stock at mid-season: Boston’s rookie grades so far

With an absolutely massive rookie class of seven, the >Boston Celtics have had good luck with this year’s class of first-year prospects.

Grades

These reflect, again, how these prospects have fared compared to preseason expectations, not based on their hoped-for ceilings or how they have performed vs. their non-rookie peers.

Tacko Fall: A- 

Tacko deserves a near-perfect grade, as he wasn’t expected to do more than make progress in the G League. He’s contributed to non-garbage time play already this season, though, as close to a reasonable ceiling as we’d likely get.

Javonte Green: B+

Brought on to do more than dunk, the hope has been that the Radford product could come off the bench and score and defend when needed — and he’s done that. Nothing more, nothing less earns a solid grade in return.

Vincent Poirier: C-

Mr. Sexpants was never going to be leaned on very hard, but he hasn’t been around enough to be leaned on much even if needed. Even considering the things beyond Poirier’s control, his first 41 could have gone better, though.

Tremont Waters: A+

You could hardly ask for more out of a player who nearly went undrafted. Contributing meaningful minutes at the NBA level and dominating the G League earns the Connecticut native a perfect grade.

Carsen Edwards: C+

There was (and is) hope the former Boilermaker can provide some depth shooting, but like many rookies, he’s struggled at the NBA level. While he may soon find his shot, for now it’s been a bit of a letdown to date.

Grant Williams: A+

The sole rookie cracking the regular rotation, and for good reason. While his offense and perimeter game in particular may still need work, he’s able to fit into Boston’s schema on both ends as a frosh, which is very promising.

Romeo Langford: B-

Langford was the hardest to grade, as there wasn’t much in the way of expectations coming into the season to start with. He looks to have fixed his shot, and played some non-garbage time minutes with limited success. While we’d like to see more from a lottery pick, with all the injuries, it’s hard to penalize the Indiana product worse than a B-.