Baylor Scheierman's biggest appeal to the Boston Celtics when they drafted him in 2024 was his shooting. He shot 39% from deep on 5.6 attempts in five collegiate seasons, and he shot 38.1% on 8.3 attempts during his last season at Creighton. A lot of people even said he might be Sam Hauser's eventual replacement.
Scheierman's shot has mostly translated to the NBA level (he shot 39.9% from deep last season after shooting just 31.7% as a rookie), but he also doesn't need to be lights-out from three to make an impact and contribute to winning basketball. He just proved that.
Sure, it was in preseason, and sure, it was against a Philadelphia 76ers team without Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, and LeBron James. But he was still going up against actual NBA players, and he still looked incredible.
Baylor Scheierman doesn't need to shoot to contribute to the Celtics
In the game, Scheierman scored just three points on 1-for-3 shooting (all from deep), but he recorded eight assists, FIVE steals, and three rebounds (this stat doesn't do his performance justice; he was incredibly aggressive on the boards, jumping for 50/50 balls and running in from who-knows-where to get in position to try to grab a rebound near the basket).
The 26-year-old has turned into a legitimate, well-rounded player. He is a good passer/playmaker (especially for a non-point guard). His defense has improved since entering the league. He's a beast on the boards (he's always at least making a play on the ball, even if he doesn't come down with it). And he brings so much energy to the court, and he hustles on every play.
There's even a case to be made that Scheierman should be a full-time starter in Boston this season, and I wouldn't be opposed to that (though I still think the nod should go to Payton Pritchard). He doesn't need the ball in his hands to contribute to winning basketball, and he plays really well off of guys like Jayson Tatum and Derrick White (and probably Paul George; we haven't seen much of them together yet), but he is also a real scoring threat and isn't someone opposing defenses will want to completely ignore.
A lot of people clowned on the Scheierman pick at the time, even though the Celtics took him with the last pick of the first round. He was already 23 years old. He didn't provide much defensive value (if any). Boston already had so many wings (namely Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Hauser, and Jordan Walsh). And there were other players fans wanted instead (Kyle Filipowski was probably the name thrown around the most).
But at the end of the day, Scheierman has developed into a fantastic role player for the Celtics, and he could be in line for the best season of his NBA career to this point.
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