Meet the Celtics’ 2021 training camp roster

Author Ty Anderson

September 29th, 2021 9:25 PM

The Boston Celtics are back on the court after a summer of what feels like top-to-bottom change.

With Danny Ainge retired and out of frame as the team’s longtime president of basketball operations, head coach Brad Stevens moved out of his role and into Ainge’s post, and wasted no time putting his fingerprints on the franchise.

In as Stevens’ replacement as the C’s coach is Ime Udoka — and with a boatload of help for Udoka — and with a ton of shifting around of the Celtics’ potential complementary pieces beyond the obvious Big 3 of Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown. But before the Celts can build that cast in an attempt to return to the Eastern Conference Finals (at the very least), they’ll have to whittle it down from a 20-person training camp full of options.

• Ryan Arcidiacono

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  One of the last additions to Celtics camp, the 6-foot-3 Arcidiacono comes to Boston after a 2020-21 that saw him average 3.1 points and 1.3 assists in 10:14 per night over 44 games with Chicago. The ex-Villanova standout is a career 43.1 percent shooter (37.3 percent from deep), and was at his best as a second-year pro, with a career-high 6.7 points per game, 24:13 per game, and 44.7 field goal percentage in 81 games for the 2018-19 Bulls. 

• Jaylen Brown

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  The Celtics' 1B with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown is entering his sixth NBA season after what a career year in 2020-21, with career-best marks in points (24.7) and assists (3.4) per game, while his 39.7 field goal percentage from three-point range was also the best single-season mark of his career. The real good news: Brown is fully ready for the 2021-22 season after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery before the 2021 NBA playoffs. 

• Bruno Fernando

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  Acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in the deal that sent Tristan Thompson packing, the 6-foot-9 Fernando arrives to the C's with 89 games of NBA experience over two seasons with the Hawks. The Angola native has averaged 3.3 pounds, 3.1 rebounds, and shot 49.8 percent from the floor in 10:33 per night over his 89-game NBA sample.
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  (Getty Images)

• Juancho Hernangomez

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  Another big who can play both forward and center, Hernangomez is coming off a 2020-21 that saw him average 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, along with a 43.5 field goal percentage, in 17:18 per night over his 52 appearances. The Celtics acquired Hernangomez from the Grizzlies in the deal that sent Carsen Edwards and Kris Dunn to Memphis.

• Al Horford

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  Back for his second tour of duty with the Celts after a strange odyssey through Philadelphia and then Oklahoma City, Horford is pumped to be back in Boston, and the Celtics are excited to have his leadership back in the room. The 35-year-old averaged 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per night for the Thunder last season.
• Enes Kanter

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  Another Celtic center back for another run in Boston, Kanter is bouncing back to the Green after a reunion with the Blazers this past season. The affable Turkish center averaged 11.2 points and 11 rebounds and over 24 minutes per contest over a 72-game run with Portland a year ago. In Boston, Kanter served as a rotational piece in for Brad Stevens, and averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds, along with a 57.2 field goal percentage, in 58 games played during the 2019-20 season.

• Romeo Langford

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  Boston's top pick from the 2019 NBA Draft, Langford is looking to build off what was a strong ending, with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting in over 37 minutes of play for a depleted Boston squad in the team's season-ending loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

• Garrison Mathews

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  Inked to a training camp deal, Mathews is coming off a two-year run with the Wizards. Standing at 6-foot-5, Mathews averaged 5.5 points, 1.4 rebounds, and shot 40.9 percent from the field over 64 games with Washington last season.
• Juwan Morgan

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  Morgan will jump to the Celtics after spending the last two seasons with the Utah Jazz. In action for 50 NBA games with the Jazz, the 6-foot-8 Morgan has totaled 71 points on 29-for-56 shooting (7-for-21 from deep), along with 57 rebounds, 15 assists, and five steals in 281 and a half minutes of action. Morgan even made two postseason starts for Quin Snyder’s Jazz during the 2020 postseason, and has played center when the Jazz went with a small-ball grouping.

• Aaron Nesmith

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  Drafted by the Celtics with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Celtics are hoping that Nesmith's sharpshooting ways can play a bigger role off the bench in 2021-22, as he arrived to the Celtics as one of college basketball's top three-point threats. Nesmith shot 37 percent from beyond the arc this past season.

• Jabari Parker

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  The 6-foot-8 Parker is in a bit of a weird spot this training camp, as his deal is non-guaranteed, meaning the Celtics could release him should one of these young guns or camp invites pop. Parker averaged 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 13 games between the Kings and C’s in 2020-21.
• Theo Pinson

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  Another guard with Boston on a camp deal, Pinson totaled two points (1-for-9 shooting), one assist, and five rebounds in 34:03 of action over 17 games with the New York Knicks. Overall, the former North Carolina Tar Heel has appeared in 68 NBA games, with a 30.0 field goal percentage (20.1 percent from deep), 95 rebounds, 78 assists, and 23 steals in just under 611 minutes of action between runs with the Knicks and Nets.

• Payton Pritchard

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  The 6-foot-2 Pritchard is ready for his second NBA season after he wowed in Summer League play, with 16.8 points per game and a 47.8 field goal percentage in four contests, and finished with the fifth-most three-pointers dropped per night (3.8), and averaged a Vegas-best 8.5 assists per game. Those 8.5 dimes per night were also the second-best in Summer League history, trailing only Lonzo Ball and his 9.3 assists per game during his 2017 run.

• Josh Richardson

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  Acquire from the Mavericks (and extended by the Celtics), Richardson is in Boston after averaging 12.1 points, 2.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game in 59 appearances in 2020-21. The 27-year-old Richardson was also one of four NBA players to average at least 10 points and one steal per game while shooting at least 91 percent from the free throw line in 2020-21, joining a group featuring superstars Chris Paul, Steph Curry, and Kyrie Irving.
• Dennis Schröder

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  The 27-year-old Schröder spent the 2020-21 season with the Los Angeles, where he averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds over a 61-game run with the Lakers. His 5.8 assists per night finished as his highest average since his 6.2 apples per game with the Hawks in 2017-18, and Schröder’s 1.1 steals per game were tied for a single-season best.
  
  Overall, the No. 17 overall pick from the 2013 NBA Draft has averaged 14.3 points, 4.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and shot 43.6 percent from the field in a 557-game spent with the Hawks, Thunder, and Lakers.

• Marcus Smart

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  Boston's starting point guard following the offseason trade to ditch Kemba Walker's contract, and signed to a max extension earlier this summer, the Celtics will want to see Smart function as more of a facilitator this year. Smart did average a career-high 5.7 assists per game last season.

• Jayson Tatum

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  The face of the franchise, Tatum may be out for blood in 2021-22 after he was snubbed from an All-NBA team. Averaging 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in 2020-21, Tatum's 45.9 field goal percentage was second only to his rookie year, though he took twice as many shots this season as he did back then. Tatum was also an All-Star Game starter for the second time in his career, named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on three separate occasions, and tied the Celtics’ single-game scoring record with a 60-point performance late in the year.
• Grant Williams

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  Boston big Grant Williams dropped 15 pounds and looks absolutely jacked entering the 2021-22 season.

• Robert Williams III

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  In action for a career-high 52 games last season, Williams III finished with career-high averages in points (8.0), rebounds (6.9), assists (1.8), blocked shots (1.8), and minutes (18.9) per game. The Louisiana product even made Celtic history with an Apr. 2 effort against the Rockets, with 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting, which made him the first player in franchise history to produce at least 20 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 100 percent from the field.

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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.

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Author Ty Anderson

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2021 Celtics training camp,Boston Celtics,NBA