So Young only played like 7 some minutes tonight with 0's across the board, and Hunter also sat the last fifteen minutes. I think it's safe to say that at least one of those two is off the main roster this year, probably Young.
That really sucks that we missed out on Hood, Harris, and Capella with a swing and a miss on Young.
I know people keep pointing out that James Young is young. But I'm going to mention it again because you mentioned Gary Harris. Harris is a year older than Young. His first year in the NBA was abominable. He made James Young look good, and I'm not being hyperbolic. His summer league last year did not portend anything special. Even through December he was looking improved but still mediocre at best. Now, he got the minutes because a) Denver want going anywhere and b) Chandler was hurt, and minutes might not be as readily available to Young. That said, through their respective ages, Young isn't performing any worse than Harris was. In other words, Gary Harris, who really learned to become an NBA player a few months after his 21st birthday after looking like dogmeat before then, should give you hope, not cause for dismay.
Eh, I think there's a much bigger difference between the two than you're letting on. Yes, his first season was terrible offensively, but Harris is a very good defender that's not a match-up nightmare defensively. In all honesty, the only thing that Young does better offensively than Harris would be shoot the three, with a marginally better ability to rebound the ball. However, he's absolutely atrocious defensively, and he hasn't really shown any improvement on either side of the ball (outside of improving his shooting) the last two seasons/three summers. There's also character concerns with Young that aren't present with Harris, which has also contributed to his lack of development.
But honestly, I'm fine with him taking Young over Harris, because we already had Bradley, which seems to be Harris' ceiling. But I was a really big proponent of picking Capela, and I thought that was a major miss for him to pass over Capela for Young. And we all know Hood has out-shined Young, too, so those two are surely misses that we should've taken over Young in areas that we needed help with (back-up wing and center).
Harris was not good defensively in year 1. He was supposed to be good, but he wasn't. He got some steals, but he committed a ton of fouls in doing so, and if you read the post-year reviews of those who covered the Nuggets, they were unimpressed on that end. And his offense was downright terrible with an eFG% of 35.3, and a pretty high turnover rate for a low-usage guard.
But I bring up Harris in part for myself. While I was adamant this time last year that it was already time to move on from Young, I also was pretty convinced Harris was a similar busy, especially since he was a year older. And I was wrong on Harris, unequivocally. So while I still hope Young is shipped out in some deal, and was a little disappointed he wasn't moved with pick 51 or 58 on draft night just to clear him from the roster, I'm holding out hope the light clicks in the next six months, just like it did for Harris last season.
He really does have a sweet-looking shot. When I watch it, I expect it to go in after it's released. He has a really valuable NBA-level skill, and an NBA build. There's an NBA player there. And I saw it more this summer league than I have before. The 3-pointer went in a lot. He had only one turnover in 120ish minutes, in games where turnovers were frequent. He didn't commit many fouls, in games where auditioning refs called everything to show they know what fouls are. If his defensive positioning gets better (and it has to a degree over two years), there is an immediate role on the Celtics for someone who can make open three pointers. He doesn't need to be able to drive to the basket yet, or hit 15-footer. He just needs to be able to hit an open three from the wing or corner, and continue to swing the ball around the perimeter if he receives a pass when he doesn't have the shot.
I'm not convinced his lack of minutes in Vegas said much about the Celtics views of him. He made his shots in Utah, and the C's wanted to give minutes to Brown for obvious reasons, and also a lot of minutes to Yab and Nader, both of whom are still being considered for roster spots. Unless there's a trade, Young has his. Vegas is somewhat about skill development, but also definitely an early chance for teams to make roster decisions, and also maybe show off new draftees for trade purposes before they sign contracts.
I'm not remotely in love with James Young, and didn't like the pick then or now. I do think there's a real chance he becomes useful this season, however. And unlike many people, apparently, I thought he had a very good summer league that made me more optimistic.
Topic: Celtics (1-2) vs Cavaliers (1-2) Vegas SL Game #4 7/13/16 (Read 42262 times)