Aaron Nesmith has remained a bit of a mystery to Celtics fans for the first two months of the regular season.
The number 14 overall pick played just 111 minutes in December and January, with most of the floor time achieving the results and losses. The 6-foot-5 rookie was a sharpshooter at Vanderbilt, but it was clear that his shortcomings on the defensive side in these limited early-season periods kept him on the sidelines most nights.
Brad Stevens has had many other more experienced alternatives on his bench, so Nesmith will have to wait his turn while the head coach is looking elsewhere for more reliability on the defensive point.
Amid Boston’s growing injuries, uneven play and shallow depth on the wing, however, Stevens turned to the rookie this week, who started in Washington on Sunday by making Nesmith first man off the bench. He played 28 minutes in the loss and has not looked back since, counting 20 plus minutes of action in all four Celtics games this week, despite being in the fourth quarter of Friday’s win over Atlanta Hawks had a short fall. him to the dressing room.
“I was told he could go back,” Stevens said when asked about his condition. ‘I do not know what it means, except that they felt good enough to let him in again. They would not have done it if there had been lingering concern. So this is good news. ”
Nesmith finished with three points and four rebounds in the win, but his positive impact extends beyond a pedestrian limit (he was a plus-10). Offensively, despite his increased minutes so far, Nesmith has been a low-use option for Boston, and he averaged just 3.5 shot attempts per game this week, despite playing nearly 25 minutes per game. Surprisingly, his offense is not what led to the additional run for the former Vanderbilt sharpshooter. Instead, Nesmith made a surprising contribution that translated into tremendous results for the team when he was on the track.
The Celtics outscored opponents by 42 points during the 99 minutes he played last week, scoring a positive plus / minus point in all four games, despite Boston being 2-2 as a team during that time. This equates to a plus-22 net rating, which is by far the highest point on the grid during the limited sample size.
The reason for that zodiac sign? Opponents scored just 93 points per 100 possessions against Boston when Nesmith was on the floor last week, giving the Celtics the defensive wing off the bench they have been missing all year, with Romeo Langford on the sidelines.
Whether he was chasing loose balls, running hard around screens or jogging back to the defense, Nesmith quickly earned himself a prominent spot in Boston’s short-haired rotation and the respect of his teammates for his energetic play.
“Just how hard he competes,” Jayson Tatum said when asked what stood out about Nesmith. ‘We know it’s up and down when his number is called, but we know we can trust him to play the right game and compete just as hard as he can. It is clear that he is extremely talented. And how hard he plays, that’s the thing that really stands out to me on both sides. ”
Tristan Thompson admired how much work Nesmith did to stay abreast of the Boston scheme after looking lost during his first few appearances.
“Man, the child works, the child works,” Thompson said. ‘This is what you want to see from your young guys. Payton (Pritchard) also works hard. These are two guys who are there as soon as the lights turn on the facility and try the job. And you see, by the way Aaron is playing, he’s crazy. He’s out there. He’s getting screens. He dives to loose balls. He strikes back at the big ones. He makes multiple attempts to defend coverage.
“You love it. I think he should keep doing it. “This is how you earn your minutes, especially if you play behind the All-Stars in the wing,” Thompson added. “You have to do a few things you can put on the floor, and of course we know he can shoot the three.”
Amid a rollercoaster ride of a season full of inconsistencies up and down like Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Stevens is still trying to find the right combinations and players he can rely on. While Nesmith was thrown into the fire a few times earlier this year to see what he can do, things have changed now. He earns his minutes strictly because of his play and has a good chance of holding on to the opportunities over Semi Oeieye, Grant Williams and Javonte Green, even as Boston’s backfield heals.
Whether he can maintain this consistency remains to be seen, but what could have been a potential red shirt year for the rookie has suddenly turned into a sixth-man role on the border. The back of the score is there as Nesmith becomes more aggressive with his opportunities, but for now, the rookie surprised everyone with his defensive transformation. He’s far from perfect, but he’s better than most alternatives on Boston’s bench at the moment.