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Boston Celtics: James Young And His work In The D-League

By ggrammer

Jan 5, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard James Young (13) drives the ball against Charlotte Hornets guard Gerald Henderson (9) in the second half at TD Garden. Charlotte defeated the Celtics 104-95. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 5, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard James Young (13) drives the ball against Charlotte Hornets guard Gerald Henderson (9) in the second half at TD Garden. Charlotte defeated the Celtics 104-95. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Celtics may be fighting to make the postseason, but one Celtics player is already playing in the playoffs.

The D-League playoffs, that is. On Tuesday, James Young scored 17 points as the Maine Red Claws lost Game 1 to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

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Celtics fans have hoping for James Young to develop his potential. When there was a discussion about whether Boston should tank or not earlier this season, pro-tankers discussed how James Young would receive more playing time should Boston aim for a high lottery pick.

But the reality is that the 19-year-old is not ready for the NBA. Young’s numbers both in the box score and advanced metrics are awful. He has a .453 true shooting percentage, has shot 26 percent from long range, and averages an unspectacular 11.2 points per 36 minutes.

Past the numbers, Young is too thin to be a small forward, but would be stuck behind Avery Bradley and Evan Turner as a shooting guard.

Young has potential, but potential does not win basketball games. It does, however, earn him a chance to work on his game in the D-League, where Young has played 17 games with the Red Claws.

And what have we seen? Well, there’s the time when he scored 31 points against the Mad Ants.

The vast majority of Young’s shots in that game came off three-pointers. If you think that there are too many three-pointers in the modern NBA, it is nothing compared to the D-League. Young is shooting 44 percent from three on more than nine attempts a game, averaging 21 points on a little fewer than 16 shots.

We should start by remembering that the D-League is like the NBA Summer League. Playing well there does not guarantee that you will play well in the NBA; but poor play is an alarming sign. Seth Curry averages about 24 points on 47 percent three-point shooting in 43 D-League games, but he is not a NBA rotation player.

The fact that Young is putting up points is encouraging, but it would be even better if we could see him drive into the lane more. Furthermore, Young’s defense has the same problems in the D-League that it does in the NBA. He is too thin to handle small forwards and not skilled enough to deal with shooting guards.

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    • Young played well enough that SB Nation D-league blog Ridiculous Upside named him as one of their All-Assignee Team members. However, it is clear on watching him that he remains a work in progress. He must work on his defense, spend a lot of time in the weight room, and make sure that three-point shot of his is consistent.

    The Celtics would not have been better off playing Young more minutes this season, but they will benefit in the future as Young hopefully develops into a solid rotation player and more. Young himself seems to have acknowledged that. Earlier in the season, Young declared that he was “definitely not” interested in that.

    But after spending some time down there, he noted that he “would not mind” going back for a few more games.

    It is a long way to go from Kentucky and the Boston Celtics to the drab accommodations and small crowds of the D-League, but it will be worth it for Young if he can put in the work in Maine. The Celtics may not need Young this year, but they need someone who can develop into a great player if they want to take that next step.

    If Young works enough, there is no reason to believe it cannot be him.

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