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Boston Celtics: An Early Look At Summer League Squad

By Eric Laboissonniere

Dec 23, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Jonathan Holmes (10) reacts against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. Stanford beat Texas 74-71. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 23, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Jonathan Holmes (10) reacts against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. Stanford beat Texas 74-71. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports /
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Lets step away from NBA free agency for a little bit to talk about actual basketball being played in the summer time. The 2015 NBA Summer League has three leagues that take place in Orlando, Utah, and Las Vegas.

The Summer League starts on July 4 in Orlando, but the Boston Celtics will make their Summer League debut in Utah on July 6, and the team will also be playing in Las Vegas starting on July 10.

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The Summer League is a good place for coaches and general managers to recognize talent and see if some of their draft picks, second-year rookies, or Summer League signees are ready to compete in the NBA. As for the Celtics, the team has a pretty versatile roster that includes rookies, and some players that have played in the Summer League before.

Let’s take a look at the Celtics’ Summer League roster.

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Marcus Smart, James Young, and Colton Iverson are the first names that come to mind for the team. Smart had an impressive stint in the Summer League last season and during his rookie season as a Celtic, while Young did not compete in Summer League last season.

Iverson was a 2013 NBA Draft selection, but he has really not shined for the Celtics yet, even though he impressed overseas last season. These three players will have the most production for the Celtics during Summer League, especially Young and Smart, who are trying to take their games on the offensive end to a whole new level.

The other names that are easy to recognize include the four players drafted from the 2015 NBA Draft, which includes first-round picks Terry Rozier and R.J. Hunter and second-round picks Jordan Mickey and Marcus Thornton.

Rozier should be able to learn a lot from Smart while playing in the Summer League because they are similar players, while Hunter will be able to try and shoot the lights out in games. Hunter will be the go-to three-point shooter during Summer League. Mickey will get many minutes playing the power forward position because of his incredible rebounding ability and shot-blocking skills.

Thornton is another guard that will be able to add some scoring and shooting as well.

Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

The Celtics also signed a few players to their summer league roster in C.J. Fair, Jonathan Holmes, Eric Buckner, Royce O’Neale, Malcolm Miller and Eric Walden. Holmes and Fair are the names that jump out because both players had pretty good college careers, and Holmes was projected to be taken in this year’s NBA draft, but he was not chosen.

Holmes is a little undersized to be a power forward and he really cannot shoot from distance, but he is a strong player with impressive scoring moves in the post.

Fair was a great scorer with soft touch in college, but has not gotten his chance to play in the NBA. He was cut by the Pacers last season, which led him to the NBA D-League. He put up decent numbers, but he shot terribly from the three-point line, which is something his must improve on if he wants to turn some heads during Summer League.

The Celtics’ Summer League roster is set and soon it will be time to see what some of these players are made of. Nothing better than some basketball in the summer.

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