Getting into position
Nader earns roster spot
LAS VEGAS — After he played all three summer league games in Utah, Abdel Nader only played once here due to a strained left calf.
As frustrating as the injury was for the 6-foot-7 forward, though, he got something better. Not long before the Celtics’ summer league season ended with last night’s 91-74 loss to Dallas, last year’s NBADL rookie of the year signed a four-year, partially guaranteed contract with the Celtics.
Forget about securing one of those two-way contracts the NBA now allows (two per team) for players who will rotate between their parent team and the socalled G-League. Nader has made the Celtics’ 15-man roster.
“We’ve been talking about me possibly being on the roster the whole D-League year, how I played and progressed,” Nader said last night. “It’s great. My dream has come true, but it’s also another opportunity to keep working on. Work on making shots, attacking close-outs, making the right plays.”
Though he had hoped to get more of a chance in summer league to work on those skills, the Celtics considered it more important to have Nader healthy and ready for training camp.
So don’t ask Walter McCarty about the disappointment Nader felt about his injury-shortened Vegas stint.
“Right now I think it’s pretty easy — he’s just getting ice and massages every day,” said the Celtics assistant and head of the Vegas team, cracking wise for a moment. “Not tough at all compared to the guys who are playing, who have to learn the plays and know the plays we’re calling. They don’t get as many reps as Abdel and (Jaylen Brown) and (Jayson Tatum) did. Those guys are fine, and the more we can rest them for the season is most important.”
As with Brown and Tatum, the C’s have been cautious with Nader. Unlike his two high-profile teammates, Nader was caught in the untenable position of not knowing whether he faced another year in the NBAGL, or catching on to the end of the roster.
“I think they were being cautious more than anything,” said Nader. “The calf strain has been going on for about a month now, so just trying to get my body right and be ready for training camp.”
Nader no longer has to worry about making the official roster, albeit with a serious logjam in the making at the small forward spot.
But prior to agreeing to terms, Nader tried not to think too much about his roster security.
“To be honest I’m not really thinking about it, just seeing what happens from what I can do here,” he said. “I think I’ve developed my offensive game and defensive game to another level. It’s NBA-ready.”
The Celtics obviously agree, and probably knew as much heading into the summer, based on Nader’s exceptional work for the Maine Red Claws.
Nader was named the NBADL’s rookie of the year, and began summer league as one of the most senior members of the Celtics delegation.
“We asked him to do a lot,” said assistant Jerome Allen, who coached the summer Celtics for their three games in Utah. “We asked him to guard (Jazz guard and 2014 lottery pick Dante) Exum. We asked him to be the quarterback in terms of communication on switches. We asked him to be the point guard and set the kitchen table. We asked him to rebound the ball. He’s probably a little fatigued.”
But Nader also meets the primary requirement of any new player coming into Brad Stevens’ system. He can guard at least three positions, and perhaps four once he adds more bulk.
“He’s big, physical, athletic, fast. He attacks the basket, hits the 3,” said Allen. “You can tell the game has slowed down in his head as well. When the game’s fast but mentally slow, it allows you to be effective. He kept grinding, attacking the basket, and I’m glad to see he used his first year to get better at understanding the game.”
Nader also developed his playmaking ability, often handling the ball as a D-League rookie. He is, in short, the ideal developmental player to add under a Stevens system that places a premium on position-less basketball.
“I handled the ball in the DLeague, so I got pretty comfortable with it,” said Nader. “I would have to say yes. I don’t have a true position. I play 1 through 4 out there, I’m just a basketball player.”
“I spent a bunch of time training with Chris Johnson out in LA, spent a bunch of time refining my jump shot, working on my reads, watched a bunch of film from my D-League season, just learning the game more.”