Celtics fans will get their first look at Boston’s two 2024 draft picks when the Las Vegas Summer League tips off this weekend.
First-round pick Baylor Scheierman and second-rounder Anton Watson headline the Celtics’ Summer League roster, which was announced Monday.
Scheierman, the first Round 1 pick of the Brad Stevens era, signed his rookie contract over the weekend. He and Watson both had five-year college careers and will turn 24 before the 2024-25 season begins, meaning they should be more pro-ready than some of Boston’s other recent draftees.
Speaking of, prior second-rounders Jordan Walsh (2023) and JD Davison (’22) also will take part in Summer League after spending most of last season with the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine. Boston’s roster for Vegas features a total of five players who were with the team during its NBA championship run: forwards Walsh and Drew Peterson, guards Davison and Jalen Springer, and center Neemias Queta.
Walsh, Queta and Springer were active for all of Boston’s postseason games but played only in garbage time. Davison and Peterson did not dress for any playoff contests after making a total of 11 appearances for the big club during the regular season.
Rounding out the roster were forwards Tyler Cook, Tristan Enaruna and Ron Harper Jr., guards Jaelen House and Jahmi’us Ramsey, and center Killian Tillie.
The well-traveled Cook has appeared in games for Cleveland, Denver, Brooklyn, Detroit and Chicago and most recently played for Joventut Badalona in Spain’s Liga ACB. Enaruna is an undrafted rookie who averaged 19.6 points per game at Cleveland State last season after stints at Kansas and Iowa State.
Harper, whose father won five NBA titles as a player, appeared in 10 games for Toronto over the last two seasons after going undrafted out of Rutgers. House’s father, Eddie, was part of Boston’s 2008 championship team and now works as a Celtics analyst for NBC Sports Boston. The younger House went undrafted this year out of New Mexico.
Ramsey has bounced between the NBA and G League since being drafted in the second round by Sacramento in 2020. Tillie has 54 games of NBA experience but none since 2022. The 26-year-old Frenchman overlapped with Watson for one season at Gonzaga.
The Celtics’ Summer League squad will be coached by DJ MacLeay, who’s entering his third season as an assistant coach under Joe Mazzulla.
With Boston set to return nearly every member of the veteran-laden roster that delivered the franchise its 18th NBA championship last month, it’s unlikely any Summer League participant will be more than a bit player in 2024-25. Queta could see increased playing time early in the season, however, with starting center Kristaps Porzingis set to miss at least the first month following leg surgery. And Scheierman — an accomplished 3-point shooter who also led the Big East in defensive rebounding (9.0 per game) in his final season at Creighton — has enough experience to quickly contribute as a depth wing.
The young C’s will open their Summer League slate this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET against the Miami Heat. The matchup likely to draw the most eyeballs is their second: next Monday at 10:30 p.m. ET against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boston then will face the Charlotte Hornets (Wednesday, July 17, 5:30 p.m. ET) and Dallas Mavericks (Friday, July 19, 4:30 p.m. ET) before playing either a playoff or consolation game the following weekend. All games will air locally on NBC Sports Boston and nationally on NBA TV (Heat, Lakers, Hornets) or ESPNU (Mavs).
