Aaron Nesmith stepped into his old role for a moment. With the Pacers ahead 75-71 and his shot off in a 1-for-3 start, he stood along the baseline against former teammate Derrick White and drew a charge. Indiana went on to score on four of the next six possessions to close the third, building an 11-point lead the Celtics would not be able to surmount.
Nesmith’s 11 points in the fourth quarter, a career high, played a significant role in securing the victory that set up the Pacers’ run to the In-Season Tournament final. Boston saw a different Nesmith than the one they traded for Malcolm Brogdon last summer — stronger, able to score off the dribble and capable of rotating inside to block Jayson Tatum at the rim.
Nesmith emphasized necessary repetitions for his success in Indiana after departing the Celtics, getting opportunities to make mistakes, take shots and play longer stretches in games. It made him a new player and the Pacers a new team — the best offense in NBA history to begin this season. And on Monday, emphatically victorious over an older Celtics team. That’s who Boston is now — older.
The older Celtics couldn’t provide Nesmith that opportunity, instead utilizing him, Robert Williams III and other young players plus draft picks to consolidate the roster over the past two years. It built the kind of team capable of a 15-5 start and championship favorite status, but it also likely shrunk their contention window with the ascending Pacers, Thunder, Magic, Rockets, and others growing out of their rebuild stage and on Boston’s heels.
Brad Stevens still hasn’t drafted a first-rounder as general manager. That’s not a knock on the former head coach and current President of Basketball Operations, as the Celtics needed talented veteran infusions after mediocre drafts late in Danny Ainge’s tenure. It’s acknowledging the future paths charting for teams that focused on the draft and others who spent all their picks making trades.
Cost-controlled, developing talent on those rosters have already showed their capability of challenging Boston in the regular season in the cases of the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers. The Celtics don’t have the draft capital, prospects or playing time to develop the same way.
This offseason offered an opportunity to reset. Boston acquired the 25th overall pick in last year’s draft alongside the 2024 Warriors’ first-round selection (1-4 protected). The Celtics sent that Golden State pick to Portland for Holiday (which is not #11 in the lottery) and traded four times on Draft Night, sending No. 25 overall (Marcus Sasser) to Detroit for what became four future second-rounders and Jordan Walsh at No. 38.
The Celtics still own their own first-rounder this year, but they’ll reportedly explore trades to improve their depth in the short-term — something that’ll only further challenge their organizational depth into the future. Worth it if you win. Worrisome soon if you don’t.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum constitute the team’s young core talent, with Brown already signing a $300-million extension and Tatum inevitably following this July. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday need new deals that’ll stretch into their 30s. Al Horford, at 37, constitutes the entirety of Boston’s proven postseason front court depth while Kristaps Porziņģis’ injury history more closely resembles what you’d expect from a player of Horford’s age.
Only Sam Hauser, a massive development achievement for a team that boasted few from the draft since 2018, has consistently thrived off the bench to begin this season. The Celtics’ prospects include Payton Pritchard, older than Tatum and cold from three early, Neemias Queta, an intriguing 24-year-old rebounder who’s struggled to stay on the floor in Boston, Oshae Brissett and Dalano Banton, who haven’t consistently found their shot approaching age 26. A thinner cast of potential future Celtics have played in the G-League this fall as they attempt to repeat the successes of Hauser and Luke Kornet.
“If you go back and watch Maine Celtics Sam Hauser, he’s doing the exact same thing that he’s doing now,” Maine Celtics GM Jarell Christian told CLNS Media/CelticsBlog this week. “If you go back and watch Luke Kornet from two years ago, Luke’s doing the same exact in Boston that he was doing here in Maine. So that’s something that we try to continue to instill in our players.”
“This (Maine) team is a little bit different than what we’ve had here in the past. Two years ago with guys like (Ryan) Arcidiacono, Theo Pinson. Last year, Denzel Valentine, Mfiondu Kabengele on a two-way Luka Samanic, we’ve had guys who’ve had NBA experience and were able to essentially help themselves get into a different situation. Obviously, Luka is in Utah … we’ve got a lot of true rookies. DJ Steward is a guy that we’ve identified as a really talented player that can help, that has a great deal of potential at the next level and he’s only 21 years old, so he should technically still be in college. He’s a guy that is continuing to play well, continuing to play his role at a high level.”
Aside from Steward, who isn’t protected from other teams signing him, JD Davison has played 66 NBA minutes into his second NBA season, Walsh hasn’t appeared in one and Nathan Knight joined as a two-way flier after New York cut him. Jay Scrubb, who originally filled that spot after a strong Summer League, tore his ACL in camp.
Overseas, recent second-rounders Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin don’t appear on track to join the Celtics soon. If Hauser’s ascent continues, he’ll need a new contract for 2025-26, challenging Boston the same way Grant Williams did last summer. That’s the risk the Celtics took in consolidating the roster under the new collective bargaining agreement.
Soon, their future picks seven years out will freeze as tradable assets. That makes the development of Banton important, identified as an early Joe Mazzulla favorite off the bench, and finding the next Hauser and Kornet more important as Walsh begins his career with a modest start in Maine, averaging 14.1 points per game on 40.6% shooting.
He’s the first of an attempted draft and development restart in Boston, one which also could’ve included an appreciating Warriors pick Portland could use to become the next Indiana — while the Celtics try to strike gold in the second round.
“(We keep an eye on Walsh) a decent amount,” Mazzulla said. “We get an email after every game. Craig … and Blaine (Mueller) are in constant communication and then we have a constant development check list of what’s important to us, where we want him to be at the end of the season, where we want him to be a year from now. You’re trying to create that culture of development and understanding of what you do up there matters. It’s important, and it’s both, we want you to develop, but we want you to enjoy the games.”
