Tell James Young he can only earn minutes at SF

[European NBA fan]

Young has to become strong enough and develop his defensive iq to defend at least three positions (probably 2-4), so that he can switch on defense. Then he will have earned minutes on a wing position, at least as a 3-and-D option.

[SHAQATTACK]

Body seems to be coming along fine .

Upstairs is where I'm worried .

Need to think fast  , react with confidence

[2short]

Here is young next problem.  Put him against turner or crowder for minutes.  Now those two are going to get nearly all sf minutes.  Now put young against jj and even hunter for sf minutes.

Young has to play much much better to even be in the nba much less get playing time

Beating Hunter for minutes at SF won't be dificult, he's not even close to being able to defend SFs

Agreed. I do not want Hunter to ever play SF. He is a long SG, not forward of any kind. He moves, shoots and distributes like a guard.

Young is not getting any more minutes this year, compared to last year. He is still our youngest team member, still the most underdeveloped. I hope it does not ruin his confidence in the long run.

Agree and agree but my point is in the few remaining spot minutes left at sf after turner and crowder I'd rather see Jonas and hunter get that time.  Hunter couldn't defend many sub small forwards but his offensive game is polished enough.  Again I'm using him and jj as example for minor minutes as third string sf

[Maurice98]

The thing about Young is, the Celtics drafted him knowing that he wasn't gonna contribute much until his 2nd or 3rd season, at least.

The biggest thing for Young, right now, is for him to be putting in the work. The physical talent is there. Work ethic and drive has always been his biggest question marks. It seems this summer he turned a corner in that regard, gained some muscle and has been working as hard as anyone. That's what's gonna make the difference for him. SL was concerning, but he did show real improvement on D which is vital for him.

If he keeps working the way it seems he has been, the coaches will give him some chances. We need a wing who can score and that's exactly what James Young can become if it all goes correctly for him. The shots will start to fall eventually. It'll be interesting to see if Turner is the guy they move, as some suspect. That would mean Young and Jones III will have a good chance to seize an opportunity.

I may be the last one on the hype train when it comes crashing to a halt, but I like Young's skillset. He could turn into just what we need at the 3.

TP! You ain't the last one on the hype train, I'm also on board. People don't realize that we drafted James as a project and he will still be for at least another year. He's showing progress little by little but some people expect him to improve drastically in one year. He's body has improved a lot compared to last year, he has spent a lot of time in Waltham compared to last year. He seems a lot more active on the court and the last thing that I'm worried it's his offensive game. This kid's talent is tremendous and like you said, if he keeps working hard, he will get there.

[vjcsmoke]

I don't see Smart as a SG though.  He's more of a combo PG.  And he's not really a scorer so it is problematic to slot him into the SG role.  Especially if you have other players you can plug in who can score more efficiently in that role ie AB/Hunter.

Young's future probably is at SF.  He doesn't seem to have the ball handling skills or the quickness to keep up defensively with elite SGs.  So he needs to bulk up and play SF.  At least he has a good shooting stroke, reach, and athleticism.

With AB gone we can move Smart to what seems to be his natural position of SG.

Rozier and IT are the only natural PGs I see on our team.

Lee has to come off the bench in favour of developing KO/Sully

[hodgy03038]

The subject of this Topic is ridiculous:

Tell James Young he can only earn minutes at SF

As if he needs to approve of what position they play him at. He will play any position they tell him IF they think he can contribute at ALL.

[greece66]

I have kinda resigned to the idea we will be playing without a SF this year.

Not necessarily such a terrible thing after all.

[KG Living Legend]

Hodgy, all it means is get stronger, gain some weight, play better defense, and you will actually earn minutes.

 Otherwise you will be sitting on the bench behind are plethora of guards that are better than you.

[Big333223]

I don't feel like there's a big difference between SG and SF. I tend to agree with how Stevens categorizes players as wings. I don't think there are many 3's in the league that Young wouldn't be able to guard for physical reasons. Will he have trouble with Lebron or Durant? Yeah, but everybody does. Those guys are freaks. But your average SF in the league isn't so much bigger than Young that it would matter much, to me.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I think Young will be most effective at sg and have stated the reasons why many times. But if you look at his history he has a much better percentage and easier time getting his shot off against 2's. He has an 8'8'' standing reach...the same as zellers but he is a shooting guard and eventually with development he will be a great sg.


Also we are drafting Brandon Ingram this year and that dude is a sf so it does not matter about Avery, ET, and all them.

[Monkhouse]

I'm actually still very high on Young.

He was drafted as a project, and was still very raw offensively. He has the height, standing reach, vertical, and the sharp shooting stroke that most scouts drool for.

Its all about him being able to look at himself in the mirror, and speak of himself with the utmost confidence like Rose once said when asked if he was the best player in the NBA.

At times he has so many memory lapses, but so what? He just turned 20, and even though he hasn't improved that much to most people, I saw him having definitely a lot more awareness in terms of the floor, and on defense. He's not going to fight through most screens, or take a charge due to his weak frame, but hopefully he does bulk up a little more, work on his step back, and try to use his length to draw contact on the fast break.

Ball handling may be an issue, but I liked the passes he made in SL, and I liked how he kept shooting when he was missing every shot. For a shooter its about having short memory. Don't dwell on your past mistakes, and just keep shooting. Eventually those shots will fall. Patience is key here.

If anything, this only tells me with IT, Turner, Smart, RJ Hunter, and Young, I really don't see that much room for Bradley.

I think Bradley's time with the Celtics is going to end. I like him. I really do. I'm just not a fan of him as much, because he is the exact opposite of what I'm looking for in a SG. Yes he can hit the 3 at a respective rate, but he would rather take more mid range shots than take the deeper shot with a higher trade off even if he missed.

Plus, since he can't really create his offense, and limited ball handling and creating contact, Rondo was probably the best player to put next to.

I'm not giving up on Young. He gets 1-2 years before I decide that his ability to develop is little to none.

If there is one thing I wish we had that the Wolves do is veteran leadership. Garnett would definitely drill into Rozier, Hunter, Mickey, and Young's head if they made any short term mistakes, and tell them exactly what to do.

So its all on Stevens to see if he can really develop someone like Young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TCOEzsb9wQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlARGQ1yrW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stfTh98D_1k







To answer OP's question, Young isn't a 3 to me. I always felt like Young and Smart could end up being our back court for the future, and still feel like Young could be if he ever reaches his ceiling. I feel like Young's game is built towards the new age shooting guards of today, two wing players that can guard the 2-3, and switch on defenses while having enough ball handling/court vision to make simple passes, and break down the defense from hard set screens.

EDIT: I remember reading so many comments about how Young has absolutely no passion or intense emotions. Watch him score the 13 points against the Hornets. He was locked in. Full throttle. He was pumped up, and he was showing excitement.

I don't understand how people can attribute having little to zero passion as someone who doesn't care about a sport.... Smart is one of the most intense players in the team, and he has always said NOTHING but good things about Young!

[Monkhouse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJmUVXuAdRo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsNN9To5cmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8AUZadrvJk

Its summer league, so think what you will. But what I got from it was these pros and cons.

PROS

Improved on being more aggressive, battling for rebounds, diving for loose balls, and trying to make an impact in hustle situations.
Became more of a frequent user on freeing himself to the baseline, and off curls for open looks from picks.
He showed a little improvement on his floater, mid range jumper which you can clearly see up above, and while his 3 pt shot wasn't falling, there were times where a few threes rattled in and out.
His position on defense isn't a lack of effort and understanding, its just garnering a better sense of feel for the game, and knowing the speed of the NBA.
Passes at times seemed like they would hit its target, still needs to work on the fluidity of passing during traffic, and keeping other defenders guessing, as he seems like his passes seem a tad bit too predictable which led to easy turnovers.

CONS
He seemed like he didn't know how to play on offense, but while this is a con, I also felt like in SL and in the regular season plays weren't called for him, so most of the times the offense isn't set up for him to succeed.
He had some bouts of bad shot selection, and too much haphazard driving into traffic. But! I will say 3-4 drives he made in SL would've definitely resulted in a foul, but they weren't called, so take it as you will.
He fell for ball fakes too often, and seemed to be beaten off the dribble way too easily.
Seems a step slow at times despite his athleticism and fluid movement.
Young avoids contact at all costs in transition, and will resort to passing out of it, or pump faking/taking the deep contested 3 or mid range.
His shot release looked very swift and fluid, but taking deep treys resulted in more closeouts from defenders.

If I had to rate his SL, I would give him a C-.

He has a lot of room to grow, but I still saw potential. I still am a firm believer in Young.

I mean....

Doesn't it rock to be Smart, and Young?   

[Celtics4ever]

I thought he tried to shoot off balance too much in SL.    He thus made easy shots much harder.   He needs to KISS (keep it simple stupid) right now.