How Bad Are the Nesmith and Langford Picks?

[Jiri Welsch]

Obviously the correct answer for both Nesmith and Langford is: It’s too early to make a call. But part of being a sports fan is making extrapolations with limited data.

When it comes to the eye test, Langford showed glimpses last year on both ends of the court. His shot is “not great,” but his driving ability seems to show promise. On defense he has great instincts and hopefully is trending to the point Celtics coaches love (i.e. covering three positions adequately). Obviously his biggest issue is staying healthy.

As for Nesmith, we all see that he looks lost. And for a guy who is supposedly a good shooter, his shot looks borderline broken right now. My charitable reading is that he’s a young kid coming off a college injury and with no preseason, he’s nervous, and is in his own head right now. The effort is definitely there which I appreciate.

I just wanted to get you guys’ opinion on where these late lotto wings seem to fit in the mid-to-long term? Trade bait? One of them could be a good bench guy? One is an eventual starter?

As of now, both are lower on the depth chart than their 1st round counterparts (Langford lower than Grant, Nesmith lower than Pritchard). Is it all a matter of age? Is there more to it?

Interested in your thoughts 💭

[Birdman]

Still too early to tell..wait couple of years then we can decide

[ConnerHenry]

Quick thoughts:

- Langford is injury prone and the rare moments he's been healthy, has show he can be a good defender

- Nesmith had a college career limited by injuries, zero pre-season, very short training camp

Both players were "swing for the fences" picks

[Jiri Welsch]

Still too early to tell..wait couple of years then we can decide

That's no fun, though! 

[IDreamCeltics]

I mean... The OP's question doesn't get asked unless the guys are bums. 

You won't see a thread like this about Payton Prichard... because he's legitimately an NBA player. 

Langford, Young, Nesmith, Yabusele... these guys were all just basically obvious misses from the start.

[PAOBoston]

Langford can’t seem to stay healthy. I don’t expect much from him this year with no offseason training and no pre season. He shows defensive promise last year.

Nesmith is like 10 games into his rookie year. He’s coming off an injury and had non traditional offseason for NBA rookie. This year will basically be a red shirt year for him.

Overall, player development takes time for guys who come into the league at 19 years old. They are not as physically or mentally developed as upper class men like Pritchard. It’s a process and just need to stay patient.

[Sophomore]

I mean... The OP's question doesn't get asked unless the guys are bums. 

You won't see a thread like this about Payton Prichard... because he's legitimately an NBA player. 

Langford, Young, Nesmith, Yabusele... these guys were all just basically obvious misses from the start.

Yabusele doesn’t belong in the same sentence as Langford and Nesmith.

Langford, if healthy, is at least a solid NBA player with a chance to be a starter on a good team. Plus defense, good feel for the game, likely ability to become a shot creator. I can’t really predict health. I do remember that teams almost gave up on Steph Curry because his ankles were thought to be too fragile. (Langford isn’t Curry, but the point about durability stands.)

Nesmith is still freaked out by the speed of the game. If he had the g league we wouldn’t be seeing him struggle like this. Too early to tell but my bet is he turns into a rotation player but it could take a year or two.

Yabu was never plausible as an NBA player.

[cman88]

I mean... The OP's question doesn't get asked unless the guys are bums. 

You won't see a thread like this about Payton Prichard... because he's legitimately an NBA player. 

Langford, Young, Nesmith, Yabusele... these guys were all just basically obvious misses from the start.

because a players rookie year is indicative of their development as an NBA player. let alone 10 games for Nesmith.

you guys do realize jaylen brown averaged 6.6ppg and could barely find the floor his rookie year.

[CelticsWhat35]

Quick thoughts:

- Langford is injury prone and the rare moments he's been healthy, has show he can be a good defender

- Nesmith had a college career limited by injuries, zero pre-season, very short training camp

Both players were "swing for the fences" picks

I feel like Romeo was more of a “swing for the fences” pick than Nesmith.  Nesmith seemed more like a pick based on need.  I doubt even the biggest fan of Nesmith sees him as a potential all star

[GreenWarrior]

It really isn't too early to tell. These were going to be bad picks no matter what.

After this team did what they did being a young team within a game of the finals the developing of draft picks should have been over.

This team should not be relying on a bench full of 1st and 2nd yr. players. And this will bite this team in the a$$ in the playoffs.

This is imo is and was danny's biggest mistake. He showed his hand and no one bit. And this is fact - there were numerous interviews with danny where he referred to all those draft picks as assets.

Assets to me means he never intended to use all those picks he meant to deal those picks, and everyone knew it and he lost his bargaining positioning and this is what we're stuck with.

[Vermont Green]

I actually think that Langford showed a lot last season.  The season was disjointed due to his injuries and then COVID but by the end of the season, he was playing at an NBA level.  The question relative to durability persists until it doesn't but I think there is a lot of good to be found in his rookie season.  I think we are going to see quite a bit of him before this season is over.

For Nesmith, he has not shown NBA talent yet, but that does not mean I have given up on him.  I see a player that is nervous and has the "yips".  Reminds me a lot of Avery Bradley's rookie season.  Nesmith is about a year older than Bradley was as a rookie.  It is really hard to tell at this point what we have in Nesmith if anything.  I think he has the body and general athletic ability needed but confidence can be an elusive thing to rediscover especially with no G-League and probably limited practices.

[Jiri Welsch]

It really isn't too early to tell. These were going to be bad picks no matter what.

After this team did what they did being a young team within a game of the finals the developing of draft picks should have been over.

This team should not be relying on a bench full of 1st and 2nd yr. players. And this will bite this team in the a$$ in the playoffs.

This is imo is and was danny's biggest mistake. He showed his hand and no one bit. And this is fact - there were numerous interviews with danny where he referred to all those draft picks as assets.

Assets to me means he never intended to use all those picks he meant to deal those picks, and everyone knew it and he lost his bargaining positioning and this is what we're stuck with.

I think you're right that not all of these young guys can be meaningful contributors on a competing team.

But one thing I'd say is rookie contracts can still be "assets" because they're affordable contracts and ostensibly still have the value of potential.

[Birdman]

Nesmith needs to play in the D-League to get experience and just some playing time..practice everyday is not the same as playing in a game

[RPGenerate]

Nesmith needs to play in the D-League to get experience and just some playing time..practice everyday is not the same as playing in a game

Sadly no g-league for the Red Claws this year. Would have really benefited him too.

[td450]

I think the best way to look at this is to say that normally, you should expect a #14 to earn some minutes as a rookie and evolve from there. There should be some value to the organization nearly right away, then they should evolve into whatever they become. Something roughly along the lines of what Pritchard has done. So, in the immediate sense, they are a trainwreck.

Longer term, which matters more, almost nothing has happened, except Langford has shown in limited minutes that he probably has the basic tools to become a quality NBA player.