Welcome to Boston, Aaron Nesmith!

[Half-Full]

There are Some other rookies who barely got a chance to play but thanks to covid19, They have been given a much greater opportunity and some have played quite well.

Obviously T Maxey is the 1st that comes to mind. But even Kira Lewis looked solid with his first playing time.

Wouldn't surprise me if Nesmith actually played well if given a much bigger opportunity.

I also never heard of Gabe Vincent before this week. He got his 1st chance to play and hes been looking very good for Miami. Now ask yourself what if he never had this chance.

Another player getting a chance, and showing well, is Garrison Mathews, of the Wizards. When we played the Wizards, they seemed to have no energy on defense. Beal was shooting lights out, but no one seemed to be hustling. Then they put Mathews in the game, and he was all hustle and energy. This guy was undrafted out of Lipscomb University, a small Christian school in Nashville (I had never heard of it). He scored 22 points against the Suns.

As for Nesmith, I'm not too worried about his lack of playing time. He has shooting skills, he looks athletic enough, and he is smart (he was accepted at Harvard, but opted for Vanderbilt). It's not likely that he is out of his depth smarts wise, and the NBA game is too complex for him to grasp. Nor is it that he is unfit athletically, or that he can't shoot, or has a poor work ethic/attitude. Yeah, he has looked a little lost on the court, but I feel confident that he will make the necessary adjustments. The tight schedule has cut into practice time, and that is not helping the situation much. Hopefully we will get to see him play tonight, and he acquits himself well. Playing through mistakes is not a luxury that is given to most rookies, but the current circumstances will make it a necessity. Let's see.

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

[playa-hater]

Read on Twitter

I am not sure I like the word fortuitous when describing PP. He has worked like a demon possessed to this point in his life. He should be considered a great example of how hard work, believing in your self, can overcome not having the Ideal athletic advantages others enjoy.

we are the ones who are fortuitous to have him.

[Half-Full]

Read on Twitter

I am not sure I like the word fortuitous when describing PP. He has worked like a demon possessed to this point in his life. He should be considered a great example of how hard work, believing in your self, can overcome not having the Ideal athletic advantages others enjoy.

we are the ones who are fortuitous to have him.

Yeah, Payton may not have the "ideal athletic advantages" some players are born with, but he is certainly athletic. I imagine he was a playground star during recess, a star on his Little League team, and any other athletic activity he engaged in. We all know how successful he was in high school and college. As you point out, he is a hard worker who has maximized his not inconsiderable athletic skills, and we are indeed fortunate to have him.

[Dogen]

Love me some p-rabbit, but he has his own thread. This is for Heir Aaron.

I know, not much news for MIA Nesmith out there, but still...

[flintsky21]

Nesmith was deemed the best shooter in the last draft, but other shooters like Bane and even Isaiah Joe has looked better. Well, granted Nesmith doesn't get to play really, but those guys look good on the eye test and look comfortable out there, while Nesmith looks... awkward, like Semi Ojeleye awkward.

Nesmith, Bey, Maxey, and Pat Williams were my bets for the 14th pick. So sad that we ended up picking the worst one in the bunch, (okay, so far).

[31to6]

Nesmith was deemed the best shooter in the last draft, but other shooters like Bane and even Isaiah Joe has looked better. Well, granted Nesmith doesn't get to play really, but those guys look good on the eye test and look comfortable out there, while Nesmith looks... awkward, like Semi Ojeleye awkward.

Nesmith, Bey, Maxey, and Pat Williams were my bets for the 14th pick. So sad that we ended up picking the worst one in the bunch, (okay, so far).

Nesmith was consistently mocked ahead of us so I didn't have much opinion other than "SURE" when they took him. The shooting looks impressive, the other skills look fine, and his body looks NBA caliber (note: now that he's here, he's more SG size than SG/SF I was hoping, but so it goes).

But Saddiq and Precious are always going to be easy comparisons. I can understand that Nesmith may have more upside, but Saddiq seemed like such a plug-and-play fit for our roster. Trading away the 30th pick was sad. I liked Bane and LOVED Oturu. I guess either would be a financial hit versus continuing the Carsen Edwards Experience, but Carsen Edwards also sucks.

[31to6]

BREAKING: Nesmith made multiple baskets in one game.
The Nesmith Era has begun!!
(honestly it was nice to see him hit a jumper looking comfortable and confident for once)

[tlee324]

He looks like he can be a good contributor in a couple years.

[ddb]

Nesmith will find his groove. Fact of the matter is when this team is healthy he’s not in the rotation. He’s a talented kid who will do well in time here.

[Maple Green]

This is another case of Waters,Langford and Edwards

[themoneyteam2]

Back to back years the lottery pick doesn’t contribute his rookie year. Not good!

[Scarletfire81]

I saw some promising things from Nesmith, he will come around but it will take some time. Luckily we have PP, so it’s not that big of a deal.

[cl2117]

I woke up and checked the box score first and when I hit Nesmith's line I panicked. 18 minutes, -4 in the plus minus when everyone else was in double digits, 3 fouls and 1 for 5 from three. Yeesh.

When I watched the tape it wasn't nearly as bad as that though. He was on the court for a couple of Orlando's runs, but it wasn't like he was getting abused on defense. Just a victim of circumstance for the most part. Fouls weren't egregious. And on the two buckets he did have, he looked smooth.

Still looks a little lost and a lot jittery. Watching him and it feels like you're watching someone who knows he's auditioning and it's not going well. He looks frantic and nervous. On the plus side I think he eventually settles down from that and with that his play will massively improve. The down side is that there is no telling when that will be and unfortunately I think the best way to do so is to get significant minutes, which at this rate he's not getting without some help from COVID protocols.

I'm not ready to say that he's definitely not going to contribute this year, but it's not looking entirely promising. I understand why he's not getting any run, but I'd love to see him fed more minutes (especially before Romeo is back).

[Red2]

Are we looking at another James Young? Boy I hope not . Giving Desmond Banes away could come back to haunt us as well . Pritchard is a home run so kudos to Danny there. I think Nesmith should get more PT

[jmr07019]

Start at the 1:38 mark. Smart is asked about Nesmith and says he’s too timid and needs to be more aggressive. I agree but it’s also why I feel we need to give this kid 5 mpg even when everyone’s healthy. He looks nervous as hell and a little vote of confidence would go a long way. If you sit for 6-7 games in between court time the nerves will only get worse.

Watch on YouTube

[cl2117]

Start at the 1:38 mark. Smart is asked about Nesmith and says he’s too timid and needs to be more aggressive. I agree but it’s also why I feel we need to give this kid 5 mpg even when everyone’s healthy. He looks nervous as hell and a little vote of confidence would go a long way. If you sit for 6-7 games in between court time the nerves will only get worse.

Watch on YouTube

He's shook. He needs a game where he can knock down multiple 3's and feel like he belongs there.

Brad clearly operates a system where you have to earn your minutes in practice and Aaron is still falling short. He's probably right to do so and maintain a culture where you don't get minutes based off draft position, but I can't help but think it delays development to some extent.

It'd be so much easier to evaluate if we had either a summer league or G-league going right now. I know those generally don't mean anything, but if Nesmith was lighting things up in either of those at least you'd have some confidence that his sophomore year wasn't a flash in a pan.

[bucknersrevenge]

Nesmith's definitely a kid who would benefit from more practice time than we can currently provide and/or half a season in the G but obviously, that's not gonna happen. It really is important that we just realign our expectations with the realities of his situation. He's younger, no Summer League, almost no training camp. This really isn't a normal situation.

[31to6]

Agreed with all the comments above. One thing Smart doesn’t say in that clip is “we’ve seen him hit those shots in practice” etc — I know they haven’t been practicing much, but still hopefully we’ll start hearing that stuff sometime before we get too far into this season.

[mwhis21]

I’m probably in the minority here but I’m not sold on Neismith as a great shooter. A lot has been made about 14 games last year against D2 talent.

Meanwhile, he was a 33% shooter his freshman year.

I’m honestly not sure he was “the best shooter in the draft”. He had the best 10-15 game stretch of anyone in the draft.

I’m hoping he does become a lethal threat from 3pt, because we need that guy. But I’m not sold yet.

And I have nothing against him. I thought that pick should have been traded 12-18 months earlier.

All that said, I agree he needs a game where he hits 3-4 shots to get that confident and feel back.