The Boston Celtics wrapped up their Las Vegas Summer League journey on Thursday with a 87-78 win over the Lakers. They finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, but more important than the results is the development of the young players. The Celtics got a chance to evaluate the likes of Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, and Amari Williams to see who can contribute to the team as soon as next season.
What they saw from Scheierman couldn't have made the coaching staff or GM Brad Stevens happy.
Baylor Scheierman's Summer League Struggles Seal His Offseason Fate
The 30th-overall pick in last year's draft was already struggling in the Summer League before Thursday. Things took a turn for the worse against the Lakers as Scheierman went 2/14 from the field and 2/11 from three on his way to 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in 29 minutes of action.
This brought Scheierman's averages through four games to 12.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game with 27.4/20.5/87.5 shooting splits.
For a player who will turn 25 before the season and is on a guaranteed contract, those are disastrous numbers.
Plus, it's not like Scheierman is a difference maker on the other end of the floor. He takes charges and gets steals, but he doesn't have the size, length, and athleticism to guard wings, and doesn't have the lateral quickness to defend smaller players, making him a tough fit on that side of the ball.
The argument for drafting an older prospect is that they should be readier to contribute at the NBA level. A soon-to-be 25-year-old heading into his second year in the league has to be dominating the Summer League competition. Scheierman, however, is in the running for one of the worst players in Las Vegas.
This all but seals the former Creighton star's fate with the Boston Celtics. The team already has a lot of options in the backcourt and needs more frontcourt help. In any potential trade this offseason, Scheierman could find himself sent packing after he failed to establish himself as a rotation-caliber player.