Nesmith ‘good to go’ for Celtics
Draft picks excited to ‘jump in’ for green team
Aaron Nesmith’s last meaningful basketball game was more than 10 months ago, on Jan. 8, when he was playing for Vanderbilt.
He had a strong performance that night at Auburn with 18 points, which included knocking down 4-of-6 from 3-point land. The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward had firmly placed himself in the conversation for best shooter in college basketball. He was averaging 23 points on 51.2% shooting from the floor and a blazing 52.2% from beyond the arc. But the sample size was only 14 games.
Nesmith never played another game for Vandy. He suffered a stress fracture in his right foot that ended his season, and was using a scooter to avoid putting weight on the foot.
However, none of that was enough to scare the Celtics away. The C’s selected Nesmith with the 14th overall pick in last Wednesday’s NBA Draft. With training camp one week away, and the start of the 2020-21 regular season one month away, Nesmith says there’s nothing to worry about.
“I’ll be good to go,” said Nesmith. “I’ve done everything so far, workout-wise. It’s good, it’s 100% and I won’t miss a beat.”
Nesmith and the Celtics’ other first-round pick, Oregon guard Payton Pritchard (26th overall), fielded questions from reporters on Tuesday during an introductory press conference over Zoom.
Shortly after the press conference, the Celtics announced that they had officially signed Nesmith and Pritchard to their rookie contracts. Nesmith will wear No. 26 and Pritchard will wear the No. 11 that previously belonged to Kyrie Irving and then Enes Kanter.
The addition of Nesmith is particularly intriguing because he presumably helps in an area that the Celtics were lacking consistency in: outside shooting. On top of that, the Celts have wing minutes that will be up for grabs after the departure of free agent forward Gordon Hayward to Charlotte.
Nesmith was asked if he envisioned himself filling some of that void.
“We don’t really know, we’ve never really played in the NBA before. But it’s just continuing to do what is asked of us, continuing to compete, continuing to work hard, and go out there and give our best effort,” Nesmith said.
Nesmith drained at least seven three-point field goals in four of his 14 contests for Vandy in 2019-20. He also got to pick the brain of his coach, longtime NBA guard and two-time all-star Jerry Stackhouse.
“That was monumental being able to play for a guy like coach Stackhouse, 18year NBA veteran,” said Nesmith. “He’s done everything at this level that a lot of young guys coming into the league want to achieve. Being able to have that blueprint and being able to learn from a guy like that for a year, and just learn his tendencies and how he approached the game was big-time.”
Nesmith exudes the type of confidence you need to have when you’re entering the NBA. He referred to himself as an “absolute sniper” on draft night, and didn’t back down from that confidence.
“It’s just the body of work. The repetition, for me, nothing changes,” he said. “My warmup doesn’t change, my form doesn’t change, my footwork doesn’t change. “So as long as I continue to work on those things, continue to perfect those attributes to my game, there’s no reason for my shot not to translate from one level to the next.”
The 22-year-old Pritchard, meanwhile, will be looking to earn minutes in the Celtics’ backcourt after a decorated four-year career at Oregon.
The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 20.5 points (46.8% FG, 41.5% 3-PT, 82.1% FT), 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a senior in 2019-20. He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year.
“It’s definitely been an exciting time,” said Pritchard. “We’ve been starting workouts and getting going. I’m just trying to be a sponge and soak everything up and get ready for the season. Obviously, it starts quickly, so just trying to learn fast and get going.”
With the likes of Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, free agent acquisition Jeff Teague and 2019 draft pick Tremont Waters, the Celtics are wellequipped with ball-handlers.
Pritchard and Nesmith know they are joining a winning franchise that is just a couple of months removed from playing in the Eastern Conference finals.
“It’s like great expectations,” said Nesmith. “It’s nothing different than Payton or I have gone though. Just got to continue to come in and work as hard as we can.”
Pritchard has played on past teams with Celtics players Jayson Tatum, Carsen Edwards and Romeo Langford, and played against Jaylen Brown. He said he has a connection formed with those players already. He and Nesmith have been spending some time playing board games with Edwards and Celtics forward Grant Williams.
That chemistry will come in particularly handy this year. There is no summer league to get acclimated to NBA life and very minimal time to meet teammates and workout together.
“It’s going to be a quick learning curve,” said Pritchard. “I think we’re both looking forward to it, get to jump in and get right to it.”