Young battles for NBA life
WALTHAM — There is much talk about competition at the Celtics’ training camp — and there will be more in the paragraphs below. But while most players are looking to solidify or even increase their role,
James Young is fighting for his NBA life.
And just three days into camp, he appears to be stating his case.
At 21 years, 45 days, he is younger than any player in camp this side of rookie Jaylen Brown, who turns 20 next month. But Young is entering his third NBA season, and there is a question whether he will make it as a Celtic. The club must decide by Oct. 31 whether to pick up his $2.3 million option for 201718, but the more immediate issue is whether he makes the 15-man roster. With a little more than $1.8 million due him this season, Young could find himself left out.
But his teammates are talking about his play, and management types are talking about his greater level of maturity.
Asked who had stood out thus far, Marcus Smart said, “The big question is James Young. He’s improved a lot, and you can see the way he’s playing here, he’s really stepping up and we like that. That’s good for him and his team.
“He’s just more aggressive. The first couple of years, he was a little timid, a little shy, but he’s definitely being more aggressive, attacking the paint and playing great defense.”
Isaiah Thomas also noted the work of Young, among others.
“He’s played well,” Thomas said of the 6-foot-7 wingman. “He’s playing with confidence. I think that’s the biggest thing from the previous years that I’ve been here. He’s playing like he’s confident, like he knows what he’s doing and he’s very aggressive. He needs to be like that for him to be successful. He has to be like that.
“But also Terry ( Rozier) is playing well. Terry Rozier looks a little more comfortable out there. And he’s playing with confidence. You can tell guys have worked. It’s been good these first couple of days.”
Go hard or go home
The Celts have been going hard at each other, and Smart is generally singing lead on that tune.
“A couple of the college coaches that have been here in the last couple of days were saying, ‘Holy smokes is he a competitive, physical guy,’ ” said coach Brad Stevens. “And that’s beautiful. It ups everybody’s level, and that’s a good thing.
“The one thing that we want to do is obviously play hard without fouling, but playing hard is a big part of that, and so we always want to encourage that.”
Speaking of the competition, Smart said, “Love it. It’s real intense, and that’s what you expect when you’ve got guys out here that love to compete.”
Said Thomas of the intensity: “It’s tough. You got guys like Avery ( Bradley), firstteam All-Defense, Marcus running through everybody because he’s so strong. For me, it’s good. Like I said before, when I play against those guys, when I get in the game, it’s easy.
“Everybody is competing; everybody wants minutes. Coach has said nothing’s going to be given and you’ve got to compete, so we got a lot of guys at certain positions that just try to get the best of each other.”
With Evan Turner gone, Rozier showing last season that he was ready to handle more minutes, and Brown looking as though he’ll contribute quite a bit as a rookie, there are a number of jobs/ roles up for grabs.
“It was never a case to where we lost that, where we thought that we had anything secure,” said Smart. “Everybody came out here every day — and to this day — still fighting for their position and fighting for playing time and fighting to get better.”
But it’s a good kind of fighting. Thomas said he’s still working to get better even though he’s achieved his goal of becoming a starter (and an All-Star).
“I’m just trying to go out there and lead and show the young guys the ropes and, at the same time, play my game — then just get acclimated with Al ( Horford) and make sure he’s comfortable and he’s a guy that he’s trying to help the next guy,” he said.
“It’s so crazy to have a guy like that on the team that . . . we shot together a couple days ago and he was just like, ‘Man, I’m here to make things easier for you, so just let me know what you need.’ That’s just wonderful, especially a guy that has that much talent.”
Green thoughts
Gerald Green was still sidelined from the drills with a hip flexor, but he was sweating up a storm in shooting drills after the team session. The plan is still for him to return to full duty by the start of next week.
“It’s feeling better,” said Green, who believes he sustained the injury by not stretching properly. “Having a second day off of practice and today, just doing a lot of treatment right after practice and coming back this evening and doing treatment, so kind of just almost like precautionary thing, making sure it doesn’t get worse.”
Green reiterated that he agreed with the Celts’ decision to trade him as part of the package for Kevin
Garnett in 2007, but added, “It was tough when I was younger because obviously I wanted to be a part of a championship team.
“But as I grew up and got older and started becoming a student of the business, I understood it was the right move for the Celtics to do and I understood that move more than I did at the time.”