Boston Celtics: How Jeff Teague can benefit from Kemba Walker’s injury

With Kemba Walker expected to be out at least the first few weeks of the season, it’s time for Jeff Teague to reinvent himself with the Boston Celtics.

On Monday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Boston Celtics star Kemba Walker recently received a stem cell injection in his left knee and is expected to resume on-court activities this month. The Celtics will update his game availability the first week of January. This timeline all but rules out Walker’s availability for the first two-three weeks of the season.

Once Kemba returns, it is expected the Celtics will be cautious of aggravating the injury and bring him along slowly. So we likely won’t see fully healthy Walker playing his normal dose of minutes for at least the first month of the regular season. This leaves ample opportunity for Jeff Teague to reinvent himself after four consecutive underwhelming and injury-plagued seasons.

Originally, the Boston Celtics signed free agent Jeff Teague to be Walker’s backup. However, with the news coming out that Walker is still nursing the knee injury that bothered him for large parts of last season, that may not exactly be the case anymore. The only experienced point guard on the roster other than Walker, Teague will likely be thrust back into a starting role to begin the season.

Teague’s not the player he was in his first stint with Atlanta Hawks or even his early days with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Still, at 32 years old, he is a quality veteran and a productive player.

He averaged 13.2 points and 6.1 assists per game on .448/.379/.868 shooting splits in 34 games last season with the Timberwolves before being traded to the Hawks and relegated to a diminished role.

Due to his decline in production and his battles with health in recent years, Teague was only offered a one year, $2.5 million contract by the Boston Celtics. He’s on his third team in 11 months, but he possesses the tools and supporting cast around him to succeed. Though not to the ability that made him an All-Star, Teague can still attack the basket, knockdown timely 3-pointers, and is still a solid defender.

The Celtics possess arguably the best collection of talent Teague has played with since he shared the floor with Al Horford & Paul Millsap. The offense puts a premium on ball and player movement, which should be just as beneficial to Teague as playing alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Celtics have Marcus Smart, who can play some point guard, and rookie Payton Prichard waiting in the wings, but the newly available starting point guard job is Jeff Teague’s to lose.

If Teague proves he can be the floor general they need with Walker out and help the Celtics win games, he may be able to parlay this one year, $2.5 million deal into a lengthier, more lucrative deal.