Former Boston Celtics forward Aaron Nesmith agreed to a contract extension with the Indiana Pacers on Monday morning, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Nesmith spent his first two NBA seasons in Boston, where he didn’t see much opportunity. He averaged just 12.7 minutes per game in 98 games for the Cs. In those short minutes, the 23-year-old scored 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
Since being traded in the Malcolm Brogdon trade last summer, Crash has been able to carve out a stronger role for himself with Indiana. Last season, Nesmith’s minutes per game increased to 24.9 minutes per game, and his stats followed suit. He averaged 10.1 points per game on 42.7% shooting and 36.6% from deep.
never in Boston based on the talent the Celtics had before him at power forward. Other young Cs sometimes suffered the same fate. Just look at Payton Pritchard, Nesmith’s 2020 draft classmate. Pritchard spent the entire season watching from the Celtics bench as Brogdon, Marcus Smart and Derrick White ate up the most minutes in 2022-23. The speedy PP played the lowest minutes of his career at just 13.4 per game, and the same can be said for his appearances overall, as he dressed just 48 times last year.
After a summer of cycling, Boston’s guard has gotten better — but also thinner, making room for more Pritchard minutes. During the pre-season, the 25-year-old took full advantage of overtime and torched opposing defenses. His early scoring spurts have made him the standout story during the Celtics’ five-game stretch, and fans will want to see more during the regular season. Other recent Celtics delegates like Grant Williams and Romeo Langford have suffered from Boston’s
“not enough time to show what they’ve got” — at least for a while.
Williams is a tough sell on this one, as he has played a solid role during his time here. But there were certainly times when he remained the odd man out under Brad Stevens, Ime Udoka and Joe Mazzulla. Had he stayed this summer, he would surely have been benched with the addition of Kristaps Porzingis.
As for Langford, he didn’t see much of a run with the Celtics. He was later traded to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the deal that brought Derrick White to town, but did not thrive under Gregg Popovic. Langford met with Danny Ainge in Utah this offseason, but he opted out before training camp.
It’s not easy to keep a professional career afloat when you’re glued to the bench, but it’s nice to see three of the Celtics’ last four first-rounders do a good job and pay off.
