5 Takeaways from the Celtics Media Day

It's not breaking news, but at least its content!

Media Day is the first milestone on the road to a new NBA season. On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics ticked that checkpoint off their to-do list. Their media day was a little earlier than most teams due to their commitment to play two preseason games against the Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi at the start of October.

The team released its full training camp roster shortly before Boston's media day began.

As a quick reminder, Tristan Enaruna, Ron Harper Jr., Dmytro Skapintsev and Lonnie Walker IV are all on Exhibit 10 contracts, which are non-guaranteed and do not count towards the Celtics regular-season roster. The Celtics training camp officially begins today, Sept. 25, as they are one of the teams participating in preseason games outside of North America. Hopefully, we will get some cool footage at some point in the day.

Let’s move on to some of the takeaways from yesterday’s media day…

Multiple Celtics big men had surgery this summer.

Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t the only member of the Celtics big man rotation to undergo surgery this summer. Brad Stevens confirmed that Luke Kornet had wrist surgery at the end of last season, while Xavier Tillman underwent a knee scope at the end of July.

“I’m really encouraged by the health of our team,” Stevens said. “…Kristaps [Porzingis] obviously had the surgery, that was well documented. He seems to be recovering well, he’s very optimistic. I don’t know that we’re interested in putting a timeline on it, because the injury is unique…We’re very, very pleased with where he is. Maybe a little surprised.

Xavier [Tillman] had a knee scope at the end of July and is doing great, and will be a full go for practice tomorrow, and has been playing the last week or so. And then Luke [Kornet] as many of you know, had the wrist operated on right after the season. Same thing, cleared to play. Those timelines matched up well with the start of the season, obviously, with some big depth issues potentially. So, we’re fortunate.”

Both Kornet and Tillman are cleared to go full steam once training camp begins today. The Celtics will need their deep rotation of bigs to help cover for Porzingis’ absence. With Kornet and Tillman both cleared for full practice and participation, there should be healthy competition at the center spot throughout training camp.

“The wrist surgery went great,” Kornet said. “It’s really come along, it just kind of progressed well the entire time. I’ve been able to play a bit and that’s been great.”

Lonnie Walker IV is ready to fight for a roster spot.

In an offseason where the Celtics have focused on continuity, there hasn’t been much to talk about. Perhaps that’s why I’ve over-focused on Lonnie Walker and his potential fit on the roster. Still, his battle for the 15th (and final) roster spot is a legitimate talking point and one that was addressed yesterday.

“I think that anytime you bring in people to camp, all the deals are a little bit different,” Stevens said. “…He’s a guy that was very excited to be here. I think his relationship with Derrick [White], he’s worked out with Jrue [Holiday] in previous summers. I think there was an eagerness to be around those guys and to try a new situation. Obviously, he’s got a lot of talent, he’s done a lot of good things in the NBA. We’ll see how it fits and plays itself out, just like we will with all the other 21 players on the roster.”

Derrick White appeared pleased to have Walker as part of the Celtics training camp squad after spending some time with the score-first guard with the Spurs.

“It’s good seeing Lonnie again, that’s my guy,” White said. “He got drafted the year after me. So, just a couple young guys trying to figure it out, learning up Pop [Gregg Popovich.] He started in Austin his rookie year like I did. It’s always good to see him. Good guy. Good energy around the gym. Also can do a lot of special things on the court.”

I’ve been pretty vocal about my concerns with Walker. I get that he’s a bucket. I get that he has good size for his position. I’m just not convinced he can thrive in the limited role that will be available in Boston, especially when considering his defensive limitations.

Fortunately, people far smarter than me will be evaluating him. If he earns a contract, then he’s proven himself during training camp and I look forward to seeing what he can do during the season.

"I'm still on an E10,” Walker said when appearing on NBC Sports Boston’s media day coverage. “I'm not on a guaranteed contract yet, so right now I'm really just trying to earn that guaranteed contract and play to the best of my ability." - h/t Bobby Manning.

Jayson Tatum has been working on his jump shot.

I shared this breakdown of Tatum’s 3-point percentage by month in a recent post here, but I wanted to highlight it again. As you can see, his shooting touch vanished in April and has yet to return — with his struggles following him to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.

Yesterday, Tatum confirmed that he’s been putting in some work with Drew Hanlen over the past few weeks, aiming to tweak his jumper and so he can start seeing the rock fall again — hopefully at a higher clip than before.

“Been working with my trainer Drew [Hanlen] a lot, recently in the last few weeks,” Tatum said. “Pick-up points, hand placement, getting lower, keeping my shoulders forward and things like that...There were some things I could have fixed, but in the midst of the playoffs, trying to manage you rest, it’s a little tougher. I was still playing well. I just wasn’t shooting the ball as well as I would have liked. And obviously, we were winning. So it wasn’t the time or the place to try to fix things in that moment.”

Tatum is one of the most complete players in the NBA. He isn’t reliant on his three-point shot in terms of it being his only weapon. However, if he’s going to continue pressuring the rim, working out of the post, and creating offense via drive-and-kicks, he must start knocking down his 3-point attempts at an above-average clip. That’s how you keep defenses honest. It’s how you force them to make tough decisions and take advantage of how they choose to guard you.

Hanlen is one of the best NBA trainers around. It will be interesting to see how quickly Tatum’s shot comes back around and whether his mechanical tweaks will pay dividends. Personally, I’m curious to see how much his shoulder alignment will make a difference…

“Overall, I can still get better,” Tatum said in an interview with NBC Sports Boston. “You haven’t seen the best version of Jayson Tatum. And you shouldn’t. I’m only 26. I should continue to keep getting better.”

The Celtics are coming into the season with renewed motivation

Whenever a team reaches its goal of winning a championship, there’s always a level of concern regarding their motivation for the following season. It’s one thing to be fully locked in when trying to win your first chip; it’s another to come right back and do it all over again.

However, throughout Boston’s media day, multiple members of the roster discussed their motivation levels heading into training camp. As you would expect, both Tatum and Jaylen Brown are being driven by their experiences with Team USA this summer, but also by their desire to keep building out their legacies as championship-level players.

"Did I need any extra motivation coming into the season? No.” Tatum said. “I'm not gonna give anybody in particular credit that they're motivating me coming into the season."

Brown was also vocal about how he’s finding motivation heading into the new season.

“As a competitor, you’re always looking for any key identifiers that could help you be motivated, stay motivated and add to that chip on your shoulder,” Brown said. “I’m that type of guy already. I’m always looking for something. When things don’t go your way, or those voices get louder, it makes you wake up even more to drive and be better. So, I’m excited to get back going with the guys. I’m excited to start the new year…This is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked…I can probably hold my breath for 3+ minutes under water.”

While Tatum and Brown have both found ways to use their experiences from this summer to help motivate them, it would appear some of their teammates are also ready to use it as fuel for themselves. Horford appeared slightly pissed with how his two teammates were treated over the past few months, both by Team USA and the media in general.

"I personally was not happy about it," Horford said. "Those guys, they're very special to me. And even though it was nothing against me, it motivated me and all of us for this season. I know that they handled it well. They're fine. But when you see those two guys, the amount of work that they've put in, the sacrifices they have made. To be on the top of their games and that happened to them, it was hard to watch [the Olympics] and not see them in the position that we would've hoped to see them in."

Mazzulla’s unique approach to coaching will undoubtedly be focused on ensuring the entire roster is locked in ahead of the new season. The Celtics head coach takes a cerebral approach to preparing his team, and often cites the need for everyone to work as a unit and understand the trials that occur during the course of a game, season, and possession.

Baylor Scheierman is already earning praise.

Scheierman joins the Celtics as the 30th pick in the 2024 NBA draft following a five-year collegiate career with Creighton. I took a deep dive into his skillset and what he could potentially bring to the roster shortly after Brad Stevens selected him. If you haven’t already, you can read that here:

Scheierman faces an uphill battle to earn minutes within Mazzulla’s rotation in the upcoming season. The most logical expectation is that he splits his time between Boston and Maine, and plays a similar role to Svi Mykhailiuk, who left the franchise to join the Utah Jazz at the end of his contract.

During his media day news conference, Hauser praised what Shceierman has been showing during recent workouts, noting that he’s more than just a shooter and is already looking good.

“All the new additions we’ve had, they’ve been great, putting the time in and working hard,” Hauser said. “Baylor specifically, he’s a good shooter, but he’s a lot more than a shooter. He’s got a really good feel for the game, he’s pretty crafty. The best thing I can do is just try to help him in his first year. Help him with any opportunities he gets on the floor, or any opportunities he gets in Maine, whatever that may be for him…He’s a really good player. He has a good feel for things. I think he’s got a good future in this league.”

The Celtics will also have Anton Watson on a two-way contract. He’s another young talent who showed some potential upside during the team’s Summer League tournament. Nevertheless, both players must remain patient as they wait for their opportunities.

Developmental minutes on a contending team are often scarce, and that rings even more true for this Celtics team when factoring in their depth and continuity. Still, if Scheierman can impress in the minutes he does get, he could have a shot at carving out a bigger role as a sophomore or third-year player. Right now, it’s all about putting the work in, getting better and being humble enough to wait your turn.

Final thoughts

Media day is always fun. I get it; we’re essentially watching prolonged news conferences with some additional interviews on NBC Sports Boston. However, it’s the first bit of actual Celtics content we’ve had in months. It’s great to hear where everyone is at, both physically and mentally, and how they’re looking to approach the upcoming season.

With training camp now underway and preseason right around the corner, I can almost taste the new season.

What were your biggest takeaways from Media Day? Let me know in the comments!