C's pick Aaron Nesmith #14 overall

Auger34

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After last night, Grant and semi should only be used for very specific matchups.
I think Nesmith has earned the 9th man spot and Langford should be ahead of both of them in the rotation as well
 

Eddie Jurak

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After last night, Grant and semi should only be used for very specific matchups.
I think Nesmith has earned the 9th man spot and Langford should be ahead of both of them in the rotation as well
The issue here is that Grant is most useful as an undersized big and Nesmith is a wing. So changing from one to the other is not just about personnel (like, say, Langford vs Nesmith would be) but also about what type of lineup to use.
 

PedroKsBambino

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It's the blocks, steals, rebounds, and some attacking of rim/closeouts that bode well. They mentioned it on the broadcast, but he really is more athletic than maybe the public scouting reports gave credit for. The blocks/steals are especially encouraging given that they are markers of NBA athleticism.
We had some gamethread discussions of his athleticism earlier in the year and I really think he's showing that he's above-average. He is of course not a Jaylen Brown-level athlete, but I agree with you that he's better athletically than given credit for, and I think that will become even more visible as the game slows a bit for him.
 

Dduncan6er

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Hopefully there's a Summer League this year. Nesmith strikes me as a guy who would benefit a ton from that. He'd be a focal point of the offense and they'd likely run a ton of set plays for him to get his shot off. It's a bit of a bummer he wasn't able to get any G league games under his belt just for that reason. A somewhat traditional off season where he's healthy enough to work out should really lead to some improvement from him.
 

Eddie Jurak

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While I do like Nesmith, let's remember that this is one game. He's showing promise, but decisions on rotations need to built on a little longer term demonstration of success.
This is true. The value here is in knowing he had this in him, and in seeing some progression from his early-season “ball in high grass” days.
 

Eagle3

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Blocks and steals weren't official stats until after he retired, I would guess he did it many many times.
Right after I posted I realized that was probably the case, but thanks (to all 3 of you) for the quick pickup. Good example of how those kind of cherry picking stats can be misleading. Not to take away from Nesmith's game though. Hopefully he can build on it.
 

lovegtm

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While I do like Nesmith, let's remember that this is one game. He's showing promise, but decisions on rotations need to built on a little longer term demonstration of success.
The things he did well weren't really variance dependent (although matchups do matter).
 

Jimbodandy

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Cellar-Door

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Normally I don't ooh and aah over these types of hand-picked stat conglomerate games, but holy shit. That's about 50 years of rookies, since blocks and steals became an official stat.
Since 83/84 (tweet notes they used stathead, which only goes back to 83/84 for STL and BLK numbers ).
 

Cellar-Door

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Didn't catch that, thanks.
I checked and NBA.com uses the same year... looks like before that not all box scores included STL/BLK even though they were official stats, looking at guys in that period like Bird or McHale, you'll find a bunch of games where one or both of STL/BLK are missing (not 0, just no entry at all).
 

slamminsammya

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Effort is a skill and it seems to be one he has an above average amount of. He still looks wildly out of control at times though, like the kid at the pickup game who clearly hasn't played before and might injure someone at any time.
 

bakahump

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Is it possible (as in what are your thoughts) in 3 years we have a JT,JB,TL, Langford and Nesmith starting 5? AND THAT they are competitive?
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Is it possible (as in what are your thoughts) in 3 years we have a JT,JB,TL, Langford and Nesmith starting 5? AND THAT they are competitive?
Unless you love the idea of "Jayson Tatum, lead ball handler" I don't think that's your primary starting/closing unit. One of Langford or Nesmith would be coming off the bench and someone (Smart? Pritchard? Someone else?) would be bringing the ball up and initiating the offense.

Edit: unless you envision Langford in that role, which is an open question.
 

DGreenwood

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Effort is a skill and it seems to be one he has an above average amount of. He still looks wildly out of control at times though, like the kid at the pickup game who clearly hasn't played before and might injure someone at any time.
Early in last night's game Scal kept saying that he's wild out there. I think that's him picking a nicer way of saying out of control.
 

Jimbodandy

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I checked and NBA.com uses the same year... looks like before that not all box scores included STL/BLK even though they were official stats, looking at guys in that period like Bird or McHale, you'll find a bunch of games where one or both of STL/BLK are missing (not 0, just no entry at all).
Wow. Just never noticed that. My anti-1970s hoop bias is showing.

Thanks.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Up until last night, Nesmith's Steal rate and block rate were pretty much identical with Semi's. Hopefully it wasn't a one off. The 3 blocks obviously were.
Not including last night's game, Nesmith had 6 blocks in 453 minutes (now he is at 9 in 484). Semi has 13 blocks in 3,639 minutes (including zero(!) this year). In 3639 minutes, Nesmith would be expectedc to ave 48 blocks (if you ignore yesterda's game), 68 if you do count yesterday's game. I would not use the word 'identical.'

Steal rates are more similar. Semi has 67 steals in 3,639 minutes. Nesmith has 12 steals in 484 mintes, 9 in 453 if you ignore yesterday. In Semi's minutes, Nesmith would be expected to have 90 steals (72 if you ignore last night). Basically the same.

But, Nesmith is pretty early in his career, so he may be better or worse than his current stats suggest. I feel like by now we have a pretty good idea of what Semi is (and isn't) about.
 

Jimbodandy

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Effort is a skill and it seems to be one he has an above average amount of. He still looks wildly out of control at times though, like the kid at the pickup game who clearly hasn't played before and might injure someone at any time.
This might sound crazy, but my eyes tell me that he has NBA level explosiveness and jump twitch, but that his footwork is all kinds of fucked up. He's like a guy who was a plus plus cornerback in college who has to move to safety in the NFL because he can't cut and stay with pro receivers. I use that example because of that play last night where he ran down the outlet pass and then stepped on his dick and barely dumped it off before falling over.

He has functional quick hops that Semi doesn't have, but he can't stay in front of guys like Semi can. I think that foot quickness can be developed.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Not including last night's game, Nesmith had 6 blocks in 453 minutes (now he is at 9 in 484). Semi has 13 blocks in 3,639 minutes (including zero(!) this year). In 3639 minutes, Nesmith would be expectedc to ave 48 blocks (if you ignore yesterda's game), 68 if you do count yesterday's game. I would not use the word 'identical.'

Steal rates are more similar. Semi has 67 steals in 3,639 minutes. Nesmith has 12 steals in 484 mintes, 9 in 453 if you ignore yesterday. In Semi's minutes, Nesmith would be expected to have 90 steals (72 if you ignore last night). Basically the same.

But, Nesmith is pretty early in his career, so he may be better or worse than his current stats suggest. I feel like by now we have a pretty good idea of what Semi is (and isn't) about.
Semi's steal rate is 0.9% and his block rate is 0.3%. Yesterday, Nesmith was at 1.0% and 0.5%. He is at 1.2% and 1.8% now.
 

slamminsammya

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This might sound crazy, but my eyes tell me that he has NBA level explosiveness and jump twitch, but that his footwork is all kinds of fucked up. He's like a guy who was a plus plus cornerback in college who has to move to safety in the NFL because he can't cut and stay with pro receivers. I use that example because of that play last night where he ran down the outlet pass and then stepped on his dick and barely dumped it off before falling over.

He has functional quick hops that Semi doesn't have, but he can't stay in front of guys like Semi can. I think that foot quickness can be developed.
Yes! I thought the same thing on that play. A more natural athlete - nearly any other player in the NBA - sees the pass coming right towards them and is able to easily just grab it and go. Maybe that is unfair since he was sprinting hard the opposite way.

He also had a block on I think Graham last night which was the result of him getting blown by due to bad footwork but he was able to recover since he is pretty quick.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Yes! I thought the same thing on that play. A more natural athlete - nearly any other player in the NBA - sees the pass coming right towards them and is able to easily just grab it and go. Maybe that is unfair since he was sprinting hard the opposite way.

He also had a block on I think Graham last night which was the result of him getting blown by due to bad footwork but he was able to recover since he is pretty quick.
If you're talking about the second defensive play in the video below, it was Wanamaker.
View: https://twitter.com/MarcusSmartCor1/status/1387744673360498689
 

TripleOT

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My most encouraging Nesmith play was the quick release left corner three with seven minutes left that pushed it to a three possession lead. Aaron fired it so confidently that at first I thought it was Jaylen Brown .

Let’s see if he can build off this game tomorrow against the Spurs.
 

nighthob

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Leaving the spacing improvements aside, it's just nice to get a real athlete out there. I've been higher on him than most since I saw how he fixed his "being completely lost issues" from the start of the year, and I think he'll surprise people after he gets a summer to work on his spot-up jumper.
His NBA career is basically following the trajectory of his career to date. Each new level floors him for a bit, but he adjusts to the speed. And his primary skill, shooting, is something that Boston's in desperate need of. But for me the best part of this is that he's showing signs that he might be an above average defensive player. I had hi projected as a high end 3&D guy based on him becoming an averagish defender. If he's legitimately good on that end then he's an elite 3&D player.
 

nighthob

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This might sound crazy, but my eyes tell me that he has NBA level explosiveness and jump twitch, but that his footwork is all kinds of fucked up.
I made this remark about him pre-draft. His footwork wasn't Patrick Williams bad, but it was so bad that I couldn't tell how quick he really was. But now that he's healthy, with a summer to work with an NBA skills trainer, I'm officially expecting big things from him next year.

Effort is a skill and it seems to be one he has an above average amount of. He still looks wildly out of control at times though, like the kid at the pickup game who clearly hasn't played before and might injure someone at any time.
He definitely has the right attitude, there is always room for another guy willing to run through a brick wall to win. When those guys are elite level 3&D guys, you basically won the lottery.

Is it possible (as in what are your thoughts) in 3 years we have a JT,JB,TL, Langford and Nesmith starting 5? AND THAT they are competitive?
It depends on how Romeo's handle develops. If Boston could, in theory, swap Jaylen for Cade Cunningham, Langford's the ideal other guard. He's quick enough to defend 1s, with the sort of length that makes him switchable and unhuntable. But, in the current situation, he needs to work on his handle. As of today he's too careless with his dribble to be a primary ballcarrier. However there's real potential there. So if he hit his 1% projection, then Boston could line up Langford & Nesmith in the backcourt and Tatum & Brown in the frontcourt and be competitive.
 

Jimbodandy

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It depends on how Romeo's handle develops. If Boston could, in theory, swap Jaylen for Cade Cunningham, Langford's the ideal other guard. He's quick enough to defend 1s, with the sort of length that makes him switchable and unhuntable. But, in the current situation, he needs to work on his handle. As of today he's too careless with his dribble to be a primary ballcarrier. However there's real potential there. So if he hit his 1% projection, then Boston could line up Langford & Nesmith in the backcourt and Tatum & Brown in the frontcourt and be competitive.
Langford seems to have a combo guard opportunity, but it looks like maybe two offseasons of working on that handle before I'd be ok with trotting him out as primary ballhandler like they do Smart. He doesn't even seem comfortable using his left hand yet, let alone against any kind of pressure at all. It is in there though.
 

Cesar Crespo

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2nd really good game for Nesmith in a row. He also played big minutes at the end of the game and showed up huge. Had a big steal that won the game.

Obviously the night was Tatum's, but Nesmith has shown a lot the last 2 games and is starting to look like a lottery pick.
 

128

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2nd really good game for Nesmith in a row. He also played big minutes at the end of the game and showed up huge. Had a big steal that won the game.

Obviously the night was Tatum's, but Nesmith has shown a lot the last 2 games and is starting to look like a lottery pick.
He did a hell of a lot more than Vassell, who was picked three spots ahead of Nesmith.
 

Cellar-Door

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He's eating Parker and Langford's minutes right up another big game for Nesmith another DNP-CD for Parker and Romeo
 

HowBoutDemSox

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The hustle was on display and the offense is starting to click, but his defense was a sight to see. Staying with guys on ball, making crisp rotations off ball, really nice to see.
 

radsoxfan

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Just one game, but have to be impressed by Nesmith.

Certainly none of the Grant/Semi/Parker/Romeo group has taken that 3/4 bench player spot and done much to distinguish themselves.

Nesmith hasn't either but he really looked like he belonged out there tonight. Definitely earned the 30 minutes Brad gave him, nice to see.

With Kemba back that 9th man spot is still a fringe 10 minutes type role down the stretch and in the playoffs, but that version of Nesmith would be very playable there.
 

radsoxfan

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He's eating Parker and Langford's minutes right up another big game for Nesmith another DNP-CD for Parker and Romeo
The point of getting Parker was to eat up the pathetic minutes of Nesmith and Langford.

It's a much better outcome long term for Nesmith to eat up the pathetic minutes of Langford and Parker :).
 

Cesar Crespo

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Just one game, but have to be impressed by Nesmith.

Certainly none of the Grant/Semi/Parker/Romeo group has taken that 3/4 bench player spot and done much to distinguish themselves.

Nesmith hasn't either but he really looked like he belonged out there tonight. Definitely earned the 30 minutes Brad gave him, nice to see.

With Kemba back that 9th man spot is still a fringe 10 minutes type role down the stretch and in the playoffs, but that version of Nesmith would be very playable there.
Honestly, Nesmith probably had the best back to back performance of the season out of that group.