The Boston Celtics have a lot of questions to answer this offseason, with one of them being how the front office will cut down salary across the roster. Due to the strict CBA restrictions, the Celtics are likely to move on from multiple key contributors.
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Additionally, with the injury to star forward Jayson Tatum, the Celtics' roster could look different next season. Boston could look to blow things up, or just tweak things enough to make the salary issues go away for the time being.
But the Celtics also could have an influx of young talent playing next season. One of those is guard Baylor Scheierman, who just finished his rookie year with the Celtics.
Scheierman played well for the Celtics in limited time, but he recalled a moment with head coach Joe Mazzulla during training camp. According to the guard, Mazulla told him that he doesn't like rookie players.
“‘Listen, I don’t really like rookies,” Scheierman remembered Mazzulla telling him. “So you’re gonna have to battle this year, and that’s how it is.”
“And I was like, ‘alright, that’s alright.’”
Despite this fact from Mazzulla, Scheierman did fight throughout the year. Scheierman averaged 3.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.5 steals per game.
The rookie appeared in 31 games for the Celtics this past season, but he could see more game action next year. Boston is very excited about his upside, and due to the different issues that the team has, the guard could earn a rotation spot.
“I tried to play as hard as possible and just leave a flare and leave an imprint on the game, and I felt like, the last two months of the season, I put myself in good position to be someone that Joe could call on and trust to go in and execute what we’re trying to do,” Scheierman said. “I understand the playoffs are even more shortened of a rotation and obviously disappointed that I didn’t necessarily play a lot, but I also understood the situation and that’s just more motivation going into the offseason to continue to get better and continue to put myself in position to be there in the future.”
It remains to be seen what his role will be next season, but Scheierman more than earned a chance. If the Celtics can turn him into a rotation player, he will be another in a long line of talented guards to come through the organization.
