Ramp to Camp: Who will emerge as Celtics’ 10th man this season?

Ramp to Camp: Who will emerge as Celtics’ 10th man this season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics are bringing back their top nine rotation players from last season’s NBA title team, a group that accounted for more than 90 percent of the team’s total minutes.

What’s more, the Celtics lost only two roster players from last season in Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk, a duo that combined for little more than 1,000 total regular-season minutes. On paper, there’s not a lot of room for someone to pry their way to heavy rotation minutes.

Still, those departures, coupled with Kristaps Porzingis being sidelined to start the season and a general desire to tread cautiously with veteran legs, there is seemingly an opportunity for at least one other roster player to vault into a consistent rotation presence.

So who might emerge?

For the seven installment of our Ramp to Camp series, we asked our NBC Sports Boston panel to project the player most likely to emerge as Boston’s 10th man during the team’s title quest.

(Check out the first six installments of Ramp to Camp here.)

Let’s start with a rundown of the candidates (not including two-way players):

Xavier Tillman: The versatile big man logged only 274 total minutes after being acquired at trade deadline last season, but head coach Joe Mazzulla wasn’t afraid to call his number in key spots in the postseason.

Neemias Queta: The 7-foot big man helped patch big-man minutes at times last season and earned an upgrade to the parent roster after starting the season on a two-way deal.

Jaden Springer: The trade deadline acquisition is entering his fourth season but still only 21 years old. Springer has high defensive upside but must show growth on the offensive end.

Lonnie Walker IV: A surprise late-summer addition who will head to camp looking to earn a spot on the parent roster. Unlike some on the back end of Boston’s roster, Walker IV has proven he can be a steady NBA role player, though there’s still room to grow, particularly with his defensive potential.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ramp-camp-emerge-celtics-10th-133838138.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-09-10 13:38:38

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