The Celtics’ Summer League team has some real talent: 5 takeaways from Celtics vs. Warriors
The Celtics have a lot of intriguing players in Las Vegas this year.
The Celtics held off the Warriors in their second consecutive entertaining Summer League game on Tuesday, claiming a 103-92 victory to improve to 2-1 in Las Vegas.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
1. The Celtics have had much more interesting Summer Leagues. Jaylen Brown’s first year in 2016 was intriguing, and Brown threw down several thunderous dunks that previewed his highly successful NBA career. Jayson Tatum looked like a budding superstar in 2017. Robert Williams barely played in 2018, but he couldn’t keep track of his wallet and gave the media/fans an initial look at his endearing personality. Carsen Edwards looked like a superstar. Last year’s Summer League team made the Finals. Even the halcyon days when Kelly Olynyk looked like a 20-points-per-game star in Orlando were more impactful than the storylines this season.
But this year’s team doesn’t lack intrigue, if you don’t mind looking a little closer. The future of the franchise isn’t on the floor, unless Matt Ryan keeps shooting exactly like this. Still, the battle between Mfiondu Kabengele and Trevion Williams is compelling. Kabengele’s floor spacing and overall dominance in the paint are eye-opening, while Trevion Williams routinely throws passes very few men his size can throw and abuses smaller players in the post.
The Celtics signed Sam Hauser already. Hauser hasn’t exactly impressed. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan has been an absolute flame thrower playing essentially the same role as Hauser — a 6-foot-7 sharp-shooter who isn’t expected to dribble very much (both players sat out on Tuesday). Do the Celtics feel good about their decision to sign Hauser and not Ryan? Could Ryan still get a spot? If he doesn’t, will the Celtics be concerned that the next Max Strus slipped away too?
Other battles are fascinating as well. Brodric Thomas has quietly stuffed the stat sheet while burying 3-pointers. J.D. Davison can’t make a floater or a layup, but his athleticism is everything we thought it would be, and he keeps racking up assists (he finished with nine on Tuesday). Juhann Begarin keeps turning the ball over, but he’s had a few 200-decibel dunks, and he dropped 21 points on Tuesday. Aubrey Dawkins attempted an incredibly ill-advised (and pretty funny) 360 dunk.
This year’s Summer League team probably won’t affect this year’s Celtics, and this year’s Celtics are a championship contender. You’re excused if you aren’t glued to your screen, especially after a long season that ended in heartbreak.
But if you simply want to watch something compelling, you could do worse than the Las Vegas Celtics. Brad Stevens has assembled a team full of flawed-but-deeply-talented prospects.
2. Kabengele looks like a real candidate to make the Celtics’ roster, and he was excellent again on Tuesday — 20 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists, while affecting a lot of shots around the rim.
Still, keep in mind something Brad Stevens said at the press conference for Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari: The Celtics still plan to add another back-up big to the roster. They already have Luke Kornet as a fourth big man. Add the potential of playing Grant Williams as the small-ball center in certain looks, and the big rotation could actually get kind of jammed up.
Unless Kabengele is the player Stevens wants to plug in behind Horford and Williams — which seems unlikely, despite his performance so far — he might be competing for a two-way slot.
3. You can see why the Celtics are excited about Juhann Begarin. His 3-point shot doesn’t look broken and can probably be molded a bit. His size and athleticism are genuinely good. He gets to the free-throw line. He can handle the ball or play off of it. The turnovers are bad, but turnovers at 19 often indicate a young player experimenting to try to figure out a difficult game.
One can’t help but wonder what Begarin’s progress means for Yam Madar, but that’s a problem for future Summer Leagues.
4. Brodric Thomas is now 12-for-19 from 3-point range in Las Vegas. He has a smooth, repeatable stroke that looks deeply comfortable. He might be the Celtics’ most complete player in Las Vegas, which is something Stevens will certainly appreciate.
5. In other news, Ime Udoka told reporters Joe Mazzulla will be elevated on his staff with the departure of Will Hardy. Mazzulla was also a candidate for the Jazz head coaching position, and he was one of the few holdovers from the Brad Stevens era on Udoka’s staff.
“Sad to see [Hardy] go but understood that when I hired him, it was going to be short-lived,” Udoka said. “He’s had opportunities for the last few years and we did some good things this year. He got some exposure and what I told him coming along was the two years of me leaving San Antonio, what it did for me.”
The Celtics close their Summer League slate against the Grizzlies on Thursday. Games on Saturday and Sunday are yet to be announced.
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