The beauty about a deep post-season run is that it shortens the time between the old season and the new. Just last week, the Boston Celtics fell in defeat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, and their season was over. However, just four days later, we’ve been given our first glimpse of the new season with the NBA releasing Boston’s Summer League schedule.
Celtics full Summer League schedule:
Saturday July 9 – vs Heat – 5:30 PM ET – NBATV
Monday July 11 – vs Bucks – 8:00 PM ET – NBATV
Tuesday July 12 vs Warriors – 8:00 PM ET – ESPN2
Thursday July 14 vs Grizzlies – 3:30 PM ET – NBATVTournament play starts after the set schedule.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 20, 2022
The set schedule begins with a July 9 contest against the Miami Heat and is followed by a back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks, and yes, you guessed it, the Golden State Warriors. Then, the Celtics will round out their opening four games by facing off against the Memphis Grizzlies on July 14.
Of all the teams Boston will face, the Grizzlies are the most intriguing — they’ve created a successful roster via the draft, and will have a plethora of young talent looking to prove they’re worthy of a rotation spot next season.
From a Celtics perspective, this Summer League season won’t hold as much weight as previous years. Boston is now officially in contention mode, and outside of Sam Hauser and possibly Aaron Nesmith, our focus will likely be on the development of Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin who both continued their development in France and Serbia respectively.
Last season, the Celtics made it to the finals of the Summer League tournament before losing against the Sacramento Kings, who were led by impressive rookie Davion Mitchell, although none of the Boston roster made much noise once the regular season rolled around.
Furthermore, as CelticsBlog’s Keith Smith reported, these opening four games are the precursor to the Summer League tournament and will give us an opportunity to see some potential two-way players earning their spot, or, guys like Hauser looking to prove they’re ready to take the next step in their development.
So get ready, because there are only two-and-a-half weeks until we can start over-evaluating young prospects, throwing around hot takes, and most importantly, cheering for some Celtics basketball again. Because let’s be honest, the off-season already feels far too long, and it’s only just begun.
