Orlando Pro Summer League Preview Part 4 – Boston and Charlotte

Boston Celtics

The Rookies –  In contrast to the Thunder entry, the Celtics squad is chock full of players fresh out of college, though first round pick, Avery Bradley, will not be among them.  Bradley is out with a wrist injury which sidelined him towards the end of the pre-draft process.  The group in Orlando is led by 2^nd round pick Luke Harangody.  Harangody is a very efficient big man and is a beast down low when his body is set.  He is joined by 4 other recent graduates, all of who bring something to the table.  Ryan Thompson, the younger brother of the Sacramento Kings’ Jason Thompson, is a smooth shooting guard who has the ability to get to the rim.  He needs to improve his perimeter shooting to play at the NBA level.  Ryan Wittman is the opposite – deadly from long range, but he needs to work on getting to the rim and being able to beat his man one-on-one.  DeShawn Sims played a power forward at Michigan, but projects to be more of a small forward.  He needs to adjust to playing on the perimeter, though he already has an effective mid-range game.  Art Parakhouski is a classic center, not too athletic, but bullies people down low with his size.  He needs to work on his footwork over the summer to adjust to the speed of NBA level centers.

The Vets –  Oliver Lafayette and Tony Gaffney have both spent some time on the Celtics roster and should be effective acting as team leaders.  Lafayette will be running the team’s offense, while Gaffney should be the primary option on offense from the wing.

The Wild Cards –  Two foreign big men – Semih Erden and Vyacheslav Kravstov – round out the roster and, from what little I have seen of both, have a long way to play at the NBA level.  Both need to work on their toughness and being more physical on the blocks.

Charlotte Bobcats

The Rookies –  With word going around that Raymond Felton will not be coming back, the battle between Sherron Collins and Denis Clemente here in Orlando could be a battle for the backup point guard spot with the Bobcats.  Collins is the more natural point guard, Clemente is more of a scorer.  If Collins can get back into shape, he should easily win this battle.  One other rookie to watch is Marquis Gilstrap out of Iowa State.  While he played in the shadow of Craig Brackins last season, Gilstrap is very athletic and knows how to get to the rim.

The Vets –  Gerald Henderson will look to improve on his rookie season, which at best could be called inconsistent.  Henderson is very athletic, though he needs to become a more consistent perimeter shooter, especially with the defense closing on him.  Nathan Jawai is a monster presence in the paint, but still needs to improve his foot speed to compete effectively at the NBA level.   Alexis Ajinca is also still a bit unpolished, but has shown flashes of being an effective NBA role player, especially on the boards.

The Wild Cards –  The big unknown here is Darius Miles.  Extremely talented, but very troubled during his previous NBA stints, Miles is looking for a fresh start here with the Bobcats.  If he still has any of the explosiveness which characterized his Portland years, he may make a case for being on the NBA roster.  Pretty much the same things can be said about Shawne Williams, who is also on the roster.