BRIGHTON, Mass. — The Boston Celtics polished their roster by welcoming in a plethora of new faces, including some household names, but the door is still open for several other roster members to capitalize.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla already has his go-to crew in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, then Al Horford, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday who can easily start. From there, it’s up for grabs for the reserve unit members to make names for themselves.
The departure of Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon left various (and valuable) voids to be filled. Whether it’d be the defensive identity Boston hopes to re-establish, or the elite outside shooting that helped the C’s rack up blow-out victories, there are plenty of chances in place for nearly any roster member to take a leap forward.
With that being said, here are the four Celtics players with the biggest opportunity awaiting them on Opening Night come Oct. 25:
Payton Pritchard
Last season was anything but easy for Payton Pritchard.
The feisty undersized guard has made a living challenging the odds in front of him, working around a 6-foot-1 stature. But even that didn’t stop Pritchard during the early years of his career from helping fill a role as an outside shooting source off the bench.
That development, however, hit a detour when Boston had the luxury trio of Smart, White and Brogdon playing ahead of Pritchard, leaving the Oregon product rummaging for minutes throughout the season.
Now, with Brogdon and Smart gone, and not many guarantees coming off Boston’s bench, the chance for Pritchard to prove himself is once again open.
Sam Hauser
Getting a chance to fill an outside sharpshooter role in place of former Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari, third-year veteran Sam Hauser fizzled out after having a red-hot touch.
Hauser shot 50% from the field and 46.2% from 3-point range while averaging 8.3 points in the month of November, showing promising potential. But those numbers dipped down and didn’t recover until Hauser averaged nine points in February, wrapping up an inconsistent campaign that came with inconsistent ineffective time off the bench in the playoffs.
Like Pritchard, the Celtics are fairly aware of what Hauser can offer, but with less depth, the 25-year-old can truly work to mesh into Boston’s 3-pointer-fueled offense.
Oshae Brissett
Playing for the Indiana Pacers last season, Oshae Brissett never got the experience of playing for a legitimate NBA Finals contender.
That all changed when Brissett inked a two-year deal with the Celtics in free agency, well aware that Boston brought him aboard to fill a selfless role off the bench.
“I felt a sense of excitement on their end and, to me, that’s very refreshing,” Brissett said. “Hearing a winning team excited that I’m available to be a potential Celtic, I just felt they were very authentic with what they were saying and, for me, that goes a long way. … They made it very clear: we don’t need star players, we have star players. We want guys like you who can come in and make a quick change or add what we feel like we’re missing.”
Jordan Walsh
In college, Jordan Walsh’s most valuable asset fits in perfectly with one of Boston’s biggest needs: defense.
After the Celtics drafted Walsh 38th overall in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft, the reviews came in raving about Walsh’s defensive intensity. Eric Musselman, Walsh’s head coach at Arkansas, even described the 19-year-old as a “violent defender.”
Walsh, at 6-foot-7, was a standout performer during Boston’s five-game Summer League run in Las Vegas. He averaged a team-leading 16 points on 42.2% shooting from the field along with 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals per contest.
“A big focus right now is getting stronger. So I can be able to guard bigger, stronger guys, obviously,” Walsh revealed. “But also just being able to shoot the ball and make open shots, especially wide open. Being able to open up the floor for guys like Tatum and Brown.”
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