We still don’t know what kind of player Romeo Langford is going to be, but one thing is pretty clear right now.
No one should be writing him off.
Of course, that is something people love to do. There is more of a rush than ever to make definitive declarations about players. People love to crow on social media about calling it, gleefully quote-tweeting themselves to make sure everyone knows how quickly they made their declarations.
Being right feels good. Being wrong ... well, pobody’s nerfect, amirite?
Waiting to see how things go? Well, there can be no greater cardinal sin in today’s world. Fence-sitting is not tolerated in the world of takes. Everyone wants to be Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless.
Which I understand. From a pure entertainment-value perspective, the loud, ridiculous axe-grinding can be fun. From an actual informational perspective, it’s meaningless.
In a case like Langford’s, there is no allowance for the worst of luck. The almost comical spate of injuries in rapid succession, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, have conspired to rob Langford of two seasons and an offseason of preparation.
Within that time we’ve seen signs that he can be decent, signs that he’s going to have rough go of things, and signs that he could be a key piece to the future. We’ve seen two ends of that just in the past few months.
Langford’s summer league wasn’t great. He struggled a bit to find his footing in a situation where too many guys were focused on individual goals to help him find his best role. I came out of Vegas thinking Langford was destined for G League minutes where he could play real minutes and figure a few things out.
Now, after four preseason games, Langford appears to be taking a step forward, finding his way to productivity play off better teammates.
Langford finished the preseason hitting six of seven corner 3-pointers, four of which came against the Miami Heat. It’s an obviously unsustainable percentage, but it is also the exact kind of role Boston needs from Langford.
“He's had to take on a bigger load with Jaylen (Brown) being out and some guys sitting out certain games, so he's taking the challenges,” Ime Udoka said after the game. “We want him to stay aggressive, you see moments and flashes of some youth in there every now and then, but for the most part he's doing what we asked offensively and defensively. And he's a great playmaker, facilitator as well, so he brings a lot to the table.”
He opened the preseason finale moving confidently and with purpose. He was quick with his decision making and strong with his moves. He shot without hesitation, showing a clarity of mind necessary for an athlete’s success at this level.
“Confidence is just a big thing,” Langford said. “I feel like when I have my confidence, I can do just about anything I want on the court and just be able to play freely, play through mistakes and stuff like that. So confidence is huge for anybody.”
And on top of all that, he’s showing progression.
After the second preseason game, I highlighted this play:
At the time, I wrote that one of the obvious plays was to get it to Horford in the corner for an open 3-pointer.
He found himself in a similar situation in this game. Look at what he did tonight:
A blocking foul negated the 3-pointer by Sam Hauser, but that’s besides the point. The focus here is that Langford found himself in the same situation, learned from his mistake, and actually made the play he should have made the first time around.
He still didn’t do it perfectly, but that was clearly a lot better than the first version of that same play.
None of this is to say that Langford will or won’t be a contributor to this team. Four preseason games are meaningful but they’re not gospel. We still don’t know what Langford’s career will look like.
One of my favorite things to say about NBA players is that situation matters. The same player can be an All-Star in a good situation and a borderline contributor in a bad one.
Just because a puzzle piece fits in a certain spot doesn’t mean it fits in every spot.
Langford is a piece to the Celtics' puzzle and it seems, for now at least, that he has a strong chance of being an important piece this year.