Four takeaways from Celtics Summer League action

Four takeaways from Celtics Summer League action originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics dropped their summer squad in the desert this year knowing the team was already bringing back its top nine players from a championship season. So even with the highest draft pick of the Brad Stevens’ era on the roster, this year’s Vegas soirée felt more like a chance for deep depth pieces — and those players just hoping to stick in the Celtics’ ecosystem — to showcase their potential.

Such is the luxury for a team still basking in the afterglow of Banner 18 having already moved quickly to bring back the core of that team.

The summer C’s wrapped up their short Vegas residency with a 101-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Jayvee version of an NBA Finals rematch on Friday. The Celtics (2-2) will not be one of the four teams competing for the Vegas summer title starting Sunday.

The Celtics still checked a lot of the boxes on their summer to-do list. Most encouraging was that two of the players striving to increase their regular-season workload were among the biggest bright spots of the team’s play in Vegas.

Springer, Queta on a different level

Jaden Springer didn’t get much of a chance in Boston to showcase his potential after being acquired at February’s trade deadline. But he needed just one game in Vegas to show that he’s a cut above most of the younger players out west.

Springer, set to enter his fourth NBA season, showed offensive progress alongside the defensive tenacity that has been his calling card. The road to consistent playing time is bumpy when you have Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard ahead of you on the guard depth chart, but Springer should have a better opportunity to play while not jumping in midstream this year.

Neemias Queta played two games in Vegas and averaged 21 points and 8.5 rebounds before shifting to spectator mode. He’s maybe the most likely of Boston’s summer squadders to play a meaningful role this year. Queta could be important depth with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined to start the season.

Queta made the leap from two-way big to roster…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/four-takeaways-celtics-summer-league-125143298.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-07-20 12:51:43

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