Celtics coach Brad Stevens discussed what the new players garnered from the Rajon Rondo trade will mean to the franchise, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com reports. “Well I think all three of them have roles on this team,” Stevens said. “I think we’ll determine the extent of those as I get my arms wrapped around everything more. They are three guys that add to our team. I mean Jameer Nelson is a guard that can really shoot the ball that has scored and has been a consummate leader and everybody talks about the kind of person he is. Former coaches, players.
Jae Crowder is a guy that we think has a big upside. Can shoot the ball. Has shot it better this year, shooting it almost 35% from three. He’s a guy that can guard both the three and the four and even some twos on occasion. He’s a tough guy. Just a competitive tough guy.
And obviously Brandan Wright. Brandan is a guy that, this is kind of how my job works in communicating with our front office, that after we play a game maybe I’ll say, ‘Man, I think he’s really under-valued,’ because of the way he gets to the rim, the way that he finishes, and I think his second jump on rebounds is as quick as anybody’s around. So we’ll figure out how they’ll all fit with what we’re trying to do and how we can fit ourselves to bees situate them.”
Here’s more from Beantown:
- Rondo was the best player that Stevens ever coached, and he was sorry to see him go, Toscano writes in a separate article. “We all feel like Rajon had a tremendous impact,” Stevens said. “I’m understating it and stating the obvious here. He had a tremendous impact on this organization, the city, certainly as a championship member of the Celtics. I think to a man in that locker room, the coaching staff, the players certainly wish him nothing but the best.“
- Rookie point guard Marcus Smart was surprised that the Celtics pulled the trigger on the trade, Toscano also reports. “To be honest, yeah I am [shocked],” Smart said. “Seems like it just came out of nowhere to me because we weren’t really focused on a trade and everything that was going on. We were focused on this team. So I have to say I was [shocked].“
- Smart also said that trading Rondo shows the front office’s confidence in the team’s younger players, Toscano adds. “The confidence that it has in these young players including myself is tremendous,” Smart said. “That was a big move from the guys upstairs and it just shows a lot how they believe in these young guys and this young team that they have.“