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Top C's Prospects Show Growth in Summer League

Marc D'Amico
Team Reporter and Analyst

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LAS VEGAS – Before anyone judges the Summer Celitcs by their 4-4 overall record, let’s make one thing clear: Summer League isn’t about wins and losses. Summer League is about progress.

Boston’s basketball operations group – save for Jamie Young, who is a broken up about coaching the team to a 1-4 record in Vegas – can sleep well knowing that progress was made in the mountains of Utah and in the desert of Nevada.

No one knew what to expect out of this team, which featured four players from last year’s actual Celtics team and six more players who were drafted by the C’s but have yet to play a regular-season game for the organization.

What we saw over the course of eight games was a bit of expected dysfunction as a team, but more importantly, we saw improvements.

Jaylen Brown is light-years ahead of where he was when this team gathered for its first day of mini camp on July 29. Heck, he’s even miles ahead of where he was during his first game in Vegas six days ago.

He’s more confident. He’s more decisive. He’s more relaxed. All because he has quickly adapted to the NBA game and its level of talent.

“I feel much more comfortable on the court defensively, just getting active, getting steals, getting into passing lanes, scoring in transition,” he said after his final Summer League performance, which featured a team-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds. “I still have some reads I’ve got to get better at, but I feel a lot more comfortable and I knew I would. It just took time.”

With time, Brown got better and better. He went from a player who got to the free-throw line in Salt Lake City simply as a result of his athleticism, to a guy who became a defensive menace and a high-level scorer off the dribble in Las Vegas.

“Early in the week he was just kind of passive to start, and I talked to him and said, ‘Just attack the basket. Do what you do,’” Young revealed.

Brown absorbed that nudge, he assessed how his skills stacked up against his competition, and then he adjusted his game accordingly.

“At first I was thinking someone was going to block my shot maybe, and I wasn’t as confident going to the basket and that someone was going to be there,” Brown said, “but as time went on I (realized I) can get to the basket anytime I want and nobody’s getting up that high, so it’s just a matter of finishing.”

Brown finished the week in Vegas with averages of 16.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game, all while showcasing flashes of star potential.

Progress.

But Brown wasn’t the only Celtic who turned heads. Terry Rozier, Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Mickey and Abdel Nader garnered attention as the week rolled on as well.

Rozier, in fact, was unquestionably Boston’s top player during Summer League action. He led the team in scoring with an average of 20.0 PPG over six contests and showcased vast improvements as a floor general compared to a year ago. He played at a beautiful pace and at times took over games all by himself.

Yabusele, meanwhile, was one of the great surprises of Summer League, not only in regard to Celtics players, but players overall. Not much was known about the 6-foot-7, 260-pounder from France. Many had watched highlight reels, but his game – and more importantly, how it would translate to the NBA – were relative unknowns, even to his coach.

“I hadn’t seen Guerschon play other than his draft workout,” Young candidly remarked, “so I didn’t really know what he could do to start.”

Young and the rest of the onlookers found out quickly that Yabusele has a unique combination of size, power and athleticism.

Yabusele was the only player who started all eight of Boston’s Summer League games. Along the way, he showcased a wide set of tools while raising eyebrows with his athleticism. He finished Summer League play with averages of 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and canned four 3-pointers along the way.

“I think he showed he can post, he can shoot, he can put the ball on the floor, he can make passes,” Young said of Yabusele. Not a bad skill set for a guy who has weighs 260-plus pounds.

Mickey and Nader, second-round picks from 2015 and 2016, respectively, played very well but with less flair than Brown, Rozier and Yabusele. Their games weren’t sexy, but their games were rock solid.

Mickey did what he always does – he protected the rim, rebounded and scored points in the paint. He did not play in Utah but finished Vegas play with a strong double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, and with overall averages of 9.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 56.5 percent from the field. He affected many more shots than his block total would indicate in a stat sheet.

Nader was similarly consistent after finding his niche later in the week in Salt Lake City. By the time Friday’s finale rolled around, Nader had quietly made his way into the starting lineup.

Brad Stevens emphasizes versatility and Nader certainly provides plenty of it. While scoring between 10 and 16 points during each of his five appearances in Vegas – four of which were off the bench – Nader showcased the ability to drill shots from the perimeter or to attack defenses off the dribble. He also defended multiple positions at the defensive end.

This all came after Nader scored seven or fewer points and played 12 or fewer minutes during all three of his appearances in Utah.

Nader, Brown, Rozier, Yabusele and Mickey all still have a long way to go before they become household names. So, too, do their teammates who did not play as well or as much as expected, including R.J. Hunter and James Young.

But regardless of what improvements still need to be made by these players, and by how many wins they logged in Utah and Vegas, one fact stands very clear: great progress was made over the last two weeks by some of Boston’s brightest young prospects.