Semi & Nader

[Eddie20]

Over his last 3 games Semi is 1 for 9 from the field, including 0 for 5 from 3's. He has shown a good ability to move laterally and play sound positional defense, but he's extremely limited offensively. He's now shooting 35% from the field and 33% from 3's. So when he's struggling with his shot we have limited options on who to turn to.

This brings me to Nader. Why is he even on the roster? If he had a high ceiling then I would understand. However, he's already 24 and hasn't shown anything to indicate he won't be playing overseas very soon. Why not just waive him and sign someone that's more reliable? Perhaps not the best of players, but I would have more confidence in guys like Matt Barnes, Alan Anderson, Dunleavy, Hollis Thompson or even Gerald Green. In fact, even a guy like James Jones could provide value in his ability to spread the floor.

I also understand we have 1 roster spot available, as well as the DPE to work with, but I'm hoping to use that on Monroe should he become available as speculated. Adding Barnes and Monroe would be a pretty decent haul considering the limited options and would give Stevens more players he can actually count on.

[BitterJim]

Why cut Nader when we have an open roster spot?  If we need help now (I don't think we do - Semi's shot will get back on track. 3 games isn't a sample size worth considering), then we can just sign someone like Green now and then cut someone (like Nader) if someone good becomes available later

Edit: And I definitely don't want Matt Barnes anywhere near this locker room.  He's not good enough to be worth the headache anymore.  Green or maybe Hollis Thompson would be my pick

[Eddie20]

Why cut Nader when we have an open roster spot?  If we need help now (I don't think we do - Semi's shot will get back on track. 3 games isn't a sample size worth considering), then we can just sign someone like Green now and then cut someone (like Nader) if someone good becomes available later

Edit: And I definitely don't want Matt Barnes anywhere near this locker room.  He's not good enough to be worth the headache anymore.  Green or maybe Hollis Thompson would be my pick

The Semi shooting percentages posted are year to date.

Monroe should be bought out really soon because of the Mike James situation. So if you want to use the open spot on a dependable vet swing, I'm okay with it. Just keep in mind that Nader will be gone quickly thereafter once Monroe becomes available.

[RockinRyA]

No Barnes pls. Just sign Green if you really need a vet swing.

[saltlover]

Any of those guys you want ahead of Nader could be on the roster today, and could have been the entire pre-season.  There’s no reason to cut Nader at the present time for guys who are not in the NBA for a reason, especially when we have room for one without cutting him.

The back of the NBA roster is best used for developing players, not for storing veterans who are going to rack up DNPs when the team is healthy.  You cut someone like Nader in March if a vet comes on the market that you really need, and Nader still isn’t showing anything, but you don’t make that shift in November unless the young guy is being a moron and you need to stress accountability.

[apc]

We haven’t seen enough of Nader to say he is not good.
Not saying that he is good... but haven’t seen enough .

[wdleehi]

Keep the space open for buyout season.   Celtics are in a great position for that.  Winning team, popular coach, and a significant exception space for higher salary.


Signing of a player like Green is in the back pocket in case of another significant swing position injury.

[tstorey_97]

I suppose in the group dynamic, one player will be a "total failure" and Nader, at this moment, is in the running. Bird looked better in the few seconds he played than Nader. Yabusele has size and recently evidenced hustle on defense...this brings us to what might be Nader's issue.

The most Important issue for Nader is he is playing behind guys who are far more talented.

Another issue for Nader is he is an offensive player who can't come into a game cold and hit shots...so far. If he could get this done, he'd get more minutes.

Semi illustrates the reason Nader gets so little burn. Semi is a solid defender. Stevens is Ok with matching Semi up with Greek Freaks and other assorted stars. Nader will need to do one of two things to stay in the NBA:

Play some defense, giving Stevens a reason to put him in a game.
Hit some threes and drive to the hoop without getting stripped.

Nader is truly a poster child for how worthless the G league is for development. They don't play team defense and their players arrive in the NBA l-o-s-t.

Nader is a good athlete with the right size to play on a bench in the NBA, my guess is the staff thinks he can develop....long way to go.

[Snakehead]

Nader is around because he is young and absolutely dominated the G League last year.  I also haven't liked him but it's obvious why he's around.  If it wasn't for injuries he wouldn't be playing.

[rollie mass]

Eddie 20 can't wait to malign semi who is shooting 33% from 3 with coming in cold and i would hazard to say the coaches wanted him to attack closeouts.
As a rookie he is just learning what he can or can't do on the fly.
Remember, you think" he sucks ,doesn't hustle,doesn't dive for loose balls and is a paper athlete"-Semi hits threes and can switch covering multiple position and Nader is obsoleted by Semi
What was the purpose of your post - to somehow re enforce your slanted opinion
Semi has been playing very good defense against some of the leagues superstars-the celtics have been winning with defense.
Seems your in the minority when it comes to Semi
Nader has worked hard and sacrificed to play for Red Claws,he is better than James Young was
I think your a HATER bench guys and practice players that are good teammates give less trouble than disgruntled vets
Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe almost infected the the Celtics from back of bench-Red started drafting Mormons and a Jewish kid(Rick Wisemen) after his experiences with those guys.

[OldSchoolDude]

Nader is keeping DeAndre Ayton's spot warm for him 

[shake603]

You have to be going out of your way to look for problems on this roster if you’re scrutinizing some percentages from second round rookies after 14 games, of which we’ve won 12. Especially a rookie that has already contributed in the way Semi has.

Not only is this a small sample size issue, but a minutes/development issue.

We’re not better with Matt Barnes on this roster eating up minutes. He’d just cost more money and would serve no future purpose for this team. Nader at minimum can develop and has shown flashes of being good at spreading the floor, attacking close-outs, and even distributing (folks that did not watch him in the D-League last year and watched only in Summer League will disagree). He’s played in this system now and sacrificed a year to be a domestic stash. He has earned the opportunity to be on this roster. Matt Barnes has not earned a roster spot for any of 30 teams this year.

How much better would one of the suggested FAs have made us over these 14 games?

These young guys not only need time to grow and figure out what they can do, but the coaching staff needs to see what positions they’ll best succeed in. This takes time. How long did it take to make the call on James Young? Years, and he never showed what these guys have already.

We have one roster spot we can fill. And some newly granted cap space to use for it, let’s wait until either a real baller becomes available or we have a real roster issue before we go freaking out.

[billysan]

I love the effort we are seeing from these 2 guys but I don't expect any numbers from them.

 Let's face it, if we had a healthy Hayward then neither would see the court unless it was a major blowout. The only reason they do now is because Brad has to cover minutes by spreading them out.  If they play well on a given nite that's a bonus. As long as they don't make regular major errors we will see them on a regular basis.

To compare numbers or have performance expectations is an exercise in futility in my view. They are not major factors in our team future, merely stopgap. If one of them was able to develop into a serviceable long term player then I would be the first to be his advocate.

If we are down to one spot and need to pick I would say Ojeleye due to his defensive versatility.