NEVER liked Jameer. Always felt he was overrated in Orlando. The fans were nuts about him and it rubbed me the wrong way (Orlando vs Boston was a thing back then). He wasn't that good.
I wanted nothing to do with him. I think there's a 0.001% chance he's on the team next year. We are either going to trade the guy or buy him out. He makes no sense here.
So now that I got that out of the way... he actually didn't play too bad the last couple games. And whether the idea is to showcase him or keep the lockerroom dynamic healthy, it appears Jameer is going to have a big part of the rotation in the near-term... so let's talk about him as a player...
What the heck happened to his shot? He used to be a pretty dangerous shooter and has been under 40% for the last 4 years. Sup with that?
I guess it's probably worth mentioning that in his prime, only about 32% of his shots were three point shots. Compare that to what he did in Dallas... about 63% of his shots were three point shots. He's been used as a three point specialist. He made sense in Dallas, because that was a free-flowing offense that required spacing and ball movement. So when you look at his shooting percentages of 37%/37%/87%, realize that the vast majority of his shots are from behind the arc. His true shooting percentage is 50%.... Not great, but definitely higher than Rondo's 42%.
Also interesting to see his last two games... 11 assists and 8 assists. He had only been averaging 4 assists in Dallas' free-flowing offense. This makes sense, because the ball was primarily being controlled by Monta Ellis (keep an eye on the Ellis/Rondo dynamic as the season progresses). Brad Stevens actually wants to move more towards that free-flowing "space and pace" offense that the Spurs and Mavs have run so effectively... so it's interesting that Nelson has been able to rack up assists in his last couple games. My guess is it's because the team is still shaking off the remnants of Rondo's oppressive ball-dominating system.
So Nelson can still be a mildy threat out there from deep. He should help with spacing when he's on the court, because teams need to respect his 3-ball. He's also an effective free-throw shooter which means he will not completely disappear down the stretch.
His defense is terrible, though. He'll only be of benefit on the offensive end. And again, I'll be shocked if he's still wearing a Celtic jersey in March.