LAS VEGAS --- NBA Summer League kicked off on Friday but the Celtics were one of ten idle teams on the day, giving them an extra day to work on preparation before hitting the court together for the first time. The team held one last practice on the campus of UNLV Friday afternoon to get ready for a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. A few nuggets of note before a number of young draft picks make their debuts.
Romeo Langford is starting to do more
The swingman made the trip with his teammates to Las Vegas even though the plan is for him not to participate in any live action as he continues his recovery from surgery on his torn thumb tendon. Langford was spotted working on his jump shot again (without a ping pong paddle on his hand) with Celtics new assistant Joe Mazzulla after the session.
"I’m hoping that he does more," Scott Morrison said of Langford. "It’s not really my decision. I’m just doing what I’ve been told, but he has been getting in more reps in the non-contact stuff and he continues to work on his shooting and his skill work. I’m guessing the plan is to take it slow with him and make sure he’s as strong as he can be by the time the real stuff gets going. Not that this isn’t important, but it wouldn’t be worth it to risk a further injury to play two games of summer league, ya know?"
The No. 14 overall pick will be in a tough spot on the Celtics depth chart to make an impact out of the gate next season, but his size (6-foot-6), scoring ability and defensive versatility give him the highest upside out of any Celtic draft pick. A clean bill of health for training camp looks likely and that is the biggest priority for the lottery pick this summer after a disappointing year at Indiana from an efficiency perspective.
Robert Williams is losing weight and trying to talk more
When Williams did manage to get on the floor last season, he generally didn't get a stint that lasted longer than a few minutes. Some of that was due to rotation patterns but it was also evident that he was dragging a bit when moving up and down the floor for long stretches. There was obviously some room for growth on that front (injuries were a contributing factor as well) but the second-year center has made it a priority to improve on the conditioning front and dropped some weight in the process.
"I’ve been trying to get back in shape," Williams said. "I dropped like six pounds maybe trying to (improve) the conditioning part, trying to get it back right. We’ve got great strength and conditioning guys.”
To his credit, the 21-year-old center seems miles away from a summer that was highlighted by oversleeping a conference call with the media, missing the first practice of summer league due to a missed flight and a knee injury that sidelined him two minutes into his first summer league game. Now? Williams is trying to take a leading role among the young group.
“Me being able to be out there and practice with them, and play a large vocal role was obviously something I was happy about," Williams said of his priority this summer. "And I feel like that’s been playing a big part. I feel like even the rookies stepping up, the main thing is being vocal. ... I feel like we had great effort throughout this training camp. And I feel like everyone’s been vocal. As long as we keep that up we should be good.”
Williams was only listed at 241 pounds last year and the case could be made that he needs to add bulk to his slender frame despite the weight loss. However, he downplayed that notion. "I’m still a problem,” Williams said with a smile asked about his skinniness.
Other News and Notes
- Room for improvement: Scott Morrison has been happy with what he's seen from the group overall in the first week of practice. However, there is still a lot of tinkering that needs to be done on both ends of the floor. "I think, defensively, our communication would be one," Morrison said on the team's weak spots. "Offensively, our attack reads where we gain an advantage on the defense and then make the right play as a result. A couple things we have to improve would be our transition defense—just remembering to get back and get our defense set, which is something we talk about all season. And then offensively just pick and roll reads, slowing down. A lot of times when guys are rookies they play too fast. It’s OK to be fast, but know when to use that speed as opposed to taking your time and making smart plays."
- Grant Williams is not trying to be Al Horford, but he will do anything the team asks of him: The 21-year-old power forward has the characteristics to play some stretch center, but that's not a task he will be asked to do much on a team full of true bigs this summer. There are big shoes to fill, but he's been working on his ability to adapt. "I don't know if I'll ever be exactly Al, but I know I can do whatever the coach needs me to do to perform at that level," Williams said. "I kind of play in a different type of way with this team as of right now, but doing whatever I can and whatever I'm asked is what I try to be best at. If coach needs me to be more on-ball and be able to screen and catch in the seam and be able to make the plays off of that, I can, or just lining up in the corner as well. It's a little bit of understanding whatever the coach needs and that's what you perform well."