Welcome to Boston, Aaron Nesmith!

[Elrod is Back]

If he played on a bad team like the Pistons he would get 20+ minutes per game...and average 10+ points per game...

Ironically his biggest problem right now is his shot isn`t falling...when he makes a few in a row everything else will also open up for him.

I disagree with majority here that he looks lost. I think he has really high BBIQ and he will thrive when he gets more minutes and a defined role in this team.

I agree. This is a kid who was accepted by Harvard, but opted to attend Vanderbilt, also a very good academic school. This says to me that it is extremely unlikely that he would fail to grasp the complexities of the NBA game. He did look a little lost in his first game, but significantly less so last game. His smarts, a good work ethic, decent athleticism, and a good shot bodes well. Give him a bit of time, all the ingredients are there.

Excellent points in this thread. Nesmith looks to be a better athlete than I was expecting. He is not just a long ball shooter; he can be a full service player.

[bucknersrevenge]

All the people writing him off are going to look foolish in 2 years.
His shot looks good. His effort looks good. His athleticism is fine. He’s clueless now but that’s to be expected. He’s also stuck behind semi who is suddenly a viable player and javonte who is looking good out there. Remember how those guys looked even worse than nesmith two years ago? Nesmith has way more potential. Trust in the ainge/stevens development plan.

Sure but how can you say his shot looks good so far lol

He's definitely rishing his shots right now. You can hear the gears turning when he's out there right now. That's normal of most rookies 10 games in. And that's with rookies with the benefit of a whole offseason, Summer League, and training camp. The game is still too fast right now. But again, we're only 10 games in. For a number of rookies, they start to settle in after the All-Star break, after the Rookie/Sophomore game (which I don't think we're having this year). Still, some others start to figure it out the following year. I'm not ready to make any pronouncements about his prospects for this year after game 11. We have 61 more games to go. If he starts to figure it out at Game 45 it's still helpful.

[31to6]

This guy’s making me miss Romeo Langford so far. At least he got some more “real” minutes today.

[playa-hater]

I am not sure people realize how hard it is to get comfortable when you come in play a sporadic minute or 2 get a shot or 2 and most importantly play with All kind of different line UPS with the 2nd and 3rd units especially with No defined position or place on a court is defined.

A better way of seeing this would be if neesmith actually started with Tatum and Brown and whoever at Center, he would know exactly where to be at a much easier pace than coming in with the 2nd and most likely 3rd unit

[Red2]

Did Walt Frazier really say the word on Nesmith is that he’s a bust?

[SmartWentCrazy]

Did Walt Frazier really say the word on Nesmith is that he’s a bust?

I mean, he looks **** awful. I get it. He has a negative PER for crying out loud.

[Patsfan1081]

I am not sure people realize how hard it is to get comfortable when you come in play a sporadic minute or 2 get a shot or 2 and most importantly play with All kind of different line UPS with the 2nd and 3rd units especially with No defined position or place on a court is defined.

A better way of seeing this would be if neesmith actually started with Tatum and Brown and whoever at Center, he would know exactly where to be at a much easier pace than coming in with the 2nd and most likely 3rd unit

Well that’s on Ainge. Why draft a project shooter when your bench is so week and you already have a project wing in Romeo? It just doesn’t seem like Danny and Brad are on the same page.

[playa-hater]

I am not sure people realize how hard it is to get comfortable when you come in play a sporadic minute or 2 get a shot or 2 and most importantly play with All kind of different line UPS with the 2nd and 3rd units especially with No defined position or place on a court is defined.

A better way of seeing this would be if neesmith actually started with Tatum and Brown and whoever at Center, he would know exactly where to be at a much easier pace than coming in with the 2nd and most likely 3rd unit

Well that’s on Ainge. Why draft a project shooter when your bench is so week and you already have a project wing in Romeo? It just doesn’t seem like Danny and Brad are on the same page.

I blame Brad more than Ainge but yeah

[jonige94]

He's not looking good so far, but we need to take into consideration that he didn't have a summer league or a decent training camp.

I would wait till next season to fully evaluate him but its not looking good so far.

[WeLikeOurGuys]

I think this is more of a Brad issue. He doesn't play raw rookies, Heck Jaylen didn't even play that much his rookie year and he was forced to play Tatum big minutes.

[cl2117]

I was begging for some Nesmith minutes and was hugely disappointed to see him only get 8 in that blowout.

Not gonna lie, he looked terrible, but that's why you gotta run him out there during these blowouts (win or lose). Sure he might not be earning the minutes, but this will still help his development. Really frustrating aspect of Brad's coaching philosophy. I get Javonte probably deserves them, but Aaron needs them and we've invested far more into him.

Nesmith is shook/nervous/lost. There was a really embarrassing possession where Pritchard was trying to get into a set and trying to send Nesmith along the baseline to get it going and Aaron clearly had no clue what he was supposed to do. It looked like Payton was shouting at him to run through and then Nesmith started before he just peeled back looking for the ball and Payton had already moved the ball back to the top of the key. I can see why that would drive Brad absolutely nuts.

I will say that his shooting form does look smooth af, but so did James Young.... (aka leading scorer in Israel last season ).

I'm not gonna get down on the kid when he can't buy a minute right now, but if Brad isn't going to play rookies who are too raw, Danny has to stop drafting them. Every pick loses value as soon as it's made and if they have no chance to develop on the court it's going to be a wasted asset. These dudes need to get on the same page.

[bucknersrevenge]

I think this is more of a Brad issue. He doesn't play raw rookies, Heck Jaylen didn't even play that much his rookie year and he was forced to play Tatum big minutes.

Interesting comparison you make here and it begs the question: Jaylen has worked hard to get where he is now. I've been told that Nesmith is a hard worker as well. For everyone so anxious to assume he won't be useful this entire year or those ready after 12 games to flat out call him a bust, how do we know that this kid can't follow a similar projection to Jaylen? I'm just sayin, give the kid a minute to get his feet under him a little.

[BostonCouchGM]

I think this is more of a Brad issue. He doesn't play raw rookies, Heck Jaylen didn't even play that much his rookie year and he was forced to play Tatum big minutes.

Interesting comparison you make here and it begs the question: Jaylen has worked hard to get where he is now. I've been told that Nesmith is a hard worker as well. For everyone so anxious to assume he won't be useful this entire year or those ready after 12 games to flat out call him a bust, how do we know that this kid can't follow a similar projection to Jaylen? I'm just sayin, give the kid a minute to get his feet under him a little.

Jaylen was 19 y/o and Nesmith is 21 y/o so that's a major difference. But I do agree that we aren't seeing anything near Nesmith's final form. He's a twitchy athlete with a beautiful stroke. He can score in a variety of ways though we haven't seen too much of that just yet. This is 100% about there not being an offseason. If he doesn't know his assignments on either end, so that it's second nature, he's going to be tentative and lack confidence.

I'm telling you naysayers, when he gets acclimated and comfortable, whether it's late this season or next season, he'll be our eventual starting SG and a perfect fit in Brad's offense. Instead of Grant Williams and Semi playing, you'll have Nesmith at the 2 and Jaylen at the 3. All of these missed threes you see from these guys will be replaced by made threes from Nesmith. And he'll be a superior defender as well. It might take longer because there's not been an offseason and I know everyone is impatient but it'll happen because he's too talented to fail.

In 2-3 years, when our offense is:

Pritchard
Nesmith
Brown
Tatum
?

we are going to be a major problem. We'll finally have 4 shooters on the floor at all times. All we'll need is a legit big and instead of pretending like we've been, we'll be actual contenders like we would have been had Hayward never got injured.

[bucknersrevenge]

I think this is more of a Brad issue. He doesn't play raw rookies, Heck Jaylen didn't even play that much his rookie year and he was forced to play Tatum big minutes.

Interesting comparison you make here and it begs the question: Jaylen has worked hard to get where he is now. I've been told that Nesmith is a hard worker as well. For everyone so anxious to assume he won't be useful this entire year or those ready after 12 games to flat out call him a bust, how do we know that this kid can't follow a similar projection to Jaylen? I'm just sayin, give the kid a minute to get his feet under him a little.

Jaylen was 19 y/o and Nesmith is 21 y/o so that's a major difference. But I do agree that we aren't seeing anything near Nesmith's final form. He's a twitchy athlete with a beautiful stroke. He can score in a variety of ways though we haven't seen too much of that just yet. This is 100% about there not being an offseason. If he doesn't know his assignments on either end, so that it's second nature, he's going to be tentative and lack confidence.

I'm telling you naysayers, when he gets acclimated and comfortable, whether it's late this season or next season, he'll be our eventual starting SG and a perfect fit in Brad's offense. Instead of Grant Williams and Semi playing, you'll have Nesmith at the 2 and Jaylen at the 3. All of these missed threes you see from these guys will be replaced by made threes from Nesmith. And he'll be a superior defender as well. It might take longer because there's not been an offseason and I know everyone is impatient but it'll happen because he's too talented to fail.

In 2-3 years, when our offense is:

Pritchard
Nesmith
Brown
Tatum
?

we are going to be a major problem. We'll finally have 4 shooters on the floor at all times. All we'll need is a legit big and instead of pretending like we've been, we'll be actual contenders like we would have been had Hayward never got injured.

You and I don't always agree but I am 150% on board with this post and the intriguing possibility and potential of that Core 4. Still wonder if Lamgford will have something to say about before all is done and same with TimeLord but I'm definitely thinking Nesmith has the ideal complementary skillset to the other 3 guys to be just what this team needs.

[ConstableGeneva]

Watching Desmond Bane getting every opportunity on the Grizz while shooting 49% from 3 physically hurts me.

[playa-hater]

Watching Desmond Bane getting every opportunity on the Grizz while shooting 49% from 3 physically hurts me.

With out being redundant I've already claimed this to be one of my biggest pet peeves on a Danny ainge and Brad Stevens tag team. If you draft Nesmith at 14 and get a Similar size player with Desmond bane at 30, If only one works out you still did very good for yourself but imagine if both players work out.

But instead people/Ainge claimed we needed to save a Roster spot for players like waters and Edwards.

If you guys had a doctor or dentist as incompetent as that would you still stay with them just wondering?

[playa-hater]

And if anyone wants to be more physically hurt just think instead of Grant Williams we could have had Brandon clarke

[Bluewhale]

Grant Williams gave us MUCH MORE than Brandon clarke did in 2020 playoffs.

Yes, I will take Grant Williams everyday in the week, twice in the weekend.

[grindtime22]

I think this is more of a Brad issue. He doesn't play raw rookies, Heck Jaylen didn't even play that much his rookie year and he was forced to play Tatum big minutes.

Interesting comparison you make here and it begs the question: Jaylen has worked hard to get where he is now. I've been told that Nesmith is a hard worker as well. For everyone so anxious to assume he won't be useful this entire year or those ready after 12 games to flat out call him a bust, how do we know that this kid can't follow a similar projection to Jaylen? I'm just sayin, give the kid a minute to get his feet under him a little.

I think Jaylen played more than people seem to remember. It may have been less than #3 overall would usually play, but our team didn't bring the normal circumstances. Jaylen had a rotation role from the start and it grew as the season went on.

Tatum was a starter day 1, with Hayward in the lineup. Brad will play you, if you are ready. Talk from Brad in the preseason was that he was ready, but there was skepticism. He played 33 minutes in his 1st preseason game and then was starting by the 2nd game. Then he was part of the starting lineup on opening night. Tatum was ready. He erased any of the major concerns about his game immediately. He was a good defender from day 1 and an efficient offensive player. Even if the pathway was clearer after the Hayward tragedy, Tatum was always going to play a major role.

Nesmith has looked better on defense the last 2 times out. Not perfect, but better. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless. If he starts knocking down shots when he gets on the floor, the defense will probably look even better to us. This defensive stuff takes time for most players and he didn't have much time to work on it from the time he was drafted. He will get more opportunities if he continues to improve on the defensive end. Brad even drew a couple of ATOs for him the other night.

[BillessuR6]

After the huge criticism Nesmith got after the last game, I went back and watched the 4th quarter again. He had a couple of bad plays but was not worse than other guys playing with him. I think he is just the new whipping boy for some posters on this board...

Sure, he needs to get better but play him with better players a little and he will also look better...