Why do people feel Nesmith should be playing? Was there something in the extremely limited minutes in preseason ball that showed he was worthy of minutes, because I sure as heck didn't see it.
Nesmith hadn't played organized basketball at any level in about a year. He played limited minutes in two preseason games and didn't look good defensively and looked like maybe he needed some adjustment to the speed of the game and the length of the NBA three pointer.
This wasn't a high quality draft. Nesmith in most other years is getting picked in the low to mid 20's. He is a project. Expecting him to be playing rotational minutes now is simply unrealistic. Getting angry over his lack of minutes through 3 games in a season without Summer League, training camp and only two preseason games is fairly ridiculous, IMHO.
Kid will get his shot.....when he shows he is worthy of minutes and not before. And, it appears he isn't worthy quite yet.
I think it's simply that it's frustrating for the team to use a 1st round pick, rather than use it in a trade, only for the guy they pick to not play.
Last year we had the 14th pick as well, and that guy hardly ever played last year, largely due to injuries. To be honest I try not to think about Romeo Langford very much because if I do I realize that it's pretty frustrating to use a late lottery pick on a guy who basically has almost no chance to even get on the court for the first 1.5 seasons of his career, and may not be in a position to make a contribution in the second half of this season, either.
Robert Williams, the 1st round pick in 2018, has played about 700 total minutes of regular season ball through his first 2 seasons and change.
Of course, as you point out, rookies often don't contribute early on in their careers. I think that's easier to swallow when the team is deep and healthy. Harder to square when it feels like the team has dealt with a lot of injuries and the depth has not always been super great. That's when you hope for young, cost-controlled first round draft talent to make a contribution.
Place all of that in the context of some of our rivals getting major contributions from guys they selected in the mid-late 1st (or undrafted), especially Miami w/ Bam, Herro and Robinson, on top of the fact that we hear so many rumors about Ainge refusing to include 1st round picks in trade talks, and it's understandable why people get angsty about our rookies / young guys.
I think you're right that the smart thing is to just set your expectations to zero for any guy drafted outside the top 10 or so.
Still, that's hard to do when it feels like the success of the team really depends a great deal on a few of these picks turning -- rather quickly -- into valuable supporting players. It's hard to chart a path to this team becoming more than just a second tier contender if none of the young guys turns out to be a major steal.
Topic: Why did we draft Nesmith again? (Read 19712 times)