The Boston Celtics will lean on new guard play this season after trading point guard Jrue Holiday. Additionally, the team plans to utilize Jaylen Brown in more of a forward role with Jayson Tatum is set to miss the season.
Boston is likely to use Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and Anfernee Simons as their primary guards this year. However, the Celtics will need a fourth guard to step up.
MassLive Celtics reporter Brian Robb was asked to rank the guards Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh, Josh Minott and Baylor Scheierman based on the minutes he thinks they are expected to play this season.
Robb believes that only two of the guards will likely see playing time most nights, and Scheierman has the best chance of getting the most minutes.
“All of these guys will enter the preseason thinking they are in the mix for minutes off the bench in all likelihood,” Robb wrote Friday. “Realistically, there is only going to be room for one or two of these guys to play most nights when the rest of the rotation is healthy, unless Joe Mazzulla plans on expanding his rotation a lot this year. For now, I’d probably peg Scheierman as my favorite for most minutes. He came on strong at the end of last year, and they will need his playmaking and rebounding off the bench if the team ends up going small and starting Pritchard and Sam Hauser.”
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Scheierman was selected 30th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. He averaged 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 31 NBA appearances as a rookie.
Scheierman may even need to step up as the third guard, as Simons has been in trade rumors since his trade to Boston over the summer.
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