I'm liking the idea of Jackson making the roster right away. Hunter I thought would take that spot but didn't really step forward as much as I thought he would in summer league. There's still preseason to go though. Jackson is a 21 year old rookie though. I thought he might be a stash for a bit sort of player but there is a chance he could contribute right away.
It's tricky as far as players to put at the end of the active roster and who will be in and out of the d-league this year. I expect jackson to be that.
I think what is ultimately going to happen is a trade before the start of the year. Young, Rj and Bentil are at the end of the list but I don't think Ainge wants to cut all 3.
You have it right as far as the guys with the lead for spots right now.
I agree that R.J's play in the summer league wasn't up to the standards that were expected of him, but I think he did a lot better than Demetrius Jackson. The latter got outplayed by Pierre Jackson (mind you a 5'10 PG who hasn't even played a single NBA game yet) in the last game against Portland.
I really don't see how you - generally speaking - can justify keeping Jackson over R.J as Marcus could be our 3rd ball handler if needed.
1) Jackson was a better player in college than Hunter. Hunter scored more, but he was the best player on an okay team in a bad conference. Jackson was on a good team in a great conference.
2) Jackson is a year younger.
3) The Celtics have seen RJ Hunter for a year. It's possible his game hasn't grown at all -- that he's still missing the same defensive rotations as he did in training camp, for example. That he hasn't improved some practice habits, perhaps. I don't know exactly, because I'm not management and don't get to see behind the scenes, but what I can assure you is that Jackson being ahead of Hunter was made prior to summer league, because...
4) When Jackson was drafted, the Celtics gushed about him and reporters tweeted from "sources" that Jackson would be on the roster. This was before free agency and before summer league. They weren't using summer league to evaluate him in terms of a roster spot -- they were using summer league to get him reps.
5) This is further corroborated by the fact that Gerald Green, the Celtics only free agent signing besides Horford, plays Hunter's position. If they'd gone off and gotten Jarrett Jack, then that would say something different. But they got Green, who's an athletic wing sometimes prone to defensive errors, but who can hit the three. I agree with you that Snart can be the third ball handler -- in fact, I'd argue he certainly is, if not the second. But it's good to have four of those guys on a roster. Injuries can pile up quickly at that position.
6) Despite that he's never played in an NBA game, I'd argue Pierre Jackson, who in his first pro season set the (now-broken) single-game scoring record in the D-league, and holds the second-highest single-season per game scoring average in the D-league, has been a better pro than RJ Hunter. He suffered an Achilles tear in Summer league two years ago. Last year he didn't look good, but he looked much more explosive this summer. I'm not surprised he outplayed Demetrious for a game. I hope he finally gets his shot in the NBA. It was really disappointing that New Orleans refused to offer him a contract when he was tearing up the D-league, despite only having 14 players on the roster much of the year.
Anyway, the main point is that the Celtics were not using summer league to decide about Demetrious. If Hunter had shown up over the summer, they might not have signed Gerald Green, but they were not competing then for a roster spot, and they are not now competing for a roster spot.