While the Celtics did sign a veteran point guard in Jeff Teague and a veteran big man in Tristan Thompson, they have not signed or traded for any wings this offseason despite losing Gordon Hayward in a sign-and-trade.
There is one noteworthy addition on the wing, though: 14th overall pick Aaron Nesmith. Now, obviously it’s not fair to expect Nesmith to step in and “replace” Hayward on Day 1.
Normally it wouldn’t really be fair to expect a mid-first-round pick to be a rotation player on a team as good as the Celtics right away either, and that’s even more true in this oddest of offseasons with no Summer League and an abbreviated training camp and preseason.
But in Nesmith’s case, there actually is reason to believe that he can crack the Celtics’ rotation and contribute from the jump despite all that.
The main reason is that he brings something the Celtics needed off the bench last season: shooting. Nesmith, who described himself as an “absolute sniper” after the draft, knocked down a ridiculous 52.2% of his threes on 8.2 attempts per game in 14 games for Vanderbilt last season before suffering a season-ending foot injury (which he is fully recovered from now).
While it’s tempting to imagine Nesmith coming off the bench and knocking down some big shots whenever the Celtics need it, he does of course need to be able to do other things, be it passing, driving to the basket, rebounding or, especially, playing defense at an NBA level, before he earns meaningful minutes.
Asked about Nesmith this week, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he likes what he’s seen from him so far, but wouldn’t commit to him immediately being in the rotation.
“We’re four practices in. I have no idea if he’ll be a part of the rotation or not,” Stevens said. “I really like what I’ve seen so far from his ability to learn from things day-to-day and apply them the next day. But that stuff will sort itself out.”
Stevens said he’s not worried about Nesmith being able to hit shots, but said there’s plenty else he’s learning, and learning quickly.
“I’m not worried about his shot at all. I think everything else is what needs to -- he just needs to learn as quickly as possible. He’s a good shooter, he’s a smart kid. I think he’ll pick things up very quickly. But there’s a lot to pick up, and making shots at the college level is much different than making shots at the professional level. Not just the line, not just the longer game, but the speed of the game, the shot challenges, all that stuff.”
Nesmith said he’s just trying to pick things up as quickly as possible and get a little bit better every day.
“It’s a lot,” he said of his first few practices. “Coming in really fast, quick turnaround, so I’m just trying to come in with a mindset of getting better every single day, getting 1% better than I was yesterday while trying to apply the schemes we are trying to run and things that we’re trying to incorporate on offense and defense.”
He said he’s not too worried about the deeper NBA three-point line, as he said he’s been shooting nothing but NBA threes for the last eight or months, and that he knows his shooting will still be the best way for him to make an impact right away.
“It’s what I do best,” Nesmith said. “Just being able to go out there and make shots and make life easier for the creators of the offense. Just being able to sprint to the corners, do my job, make the right play, make the right cuts at times and fight for rebounds. That’s my focus right now, and I want to try to do that day in and day out to the best of my ability.”
The Celtics have a need for shooting, and they have a need for wing depth behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The job is there for Nesmith's taking. Now it's just a matter of how quickly he'll be able to take it.