The Boston Celtics have a training camp filled with NBA level players that deserve playing time. Unfortunately for Brad Stevens he will only be able to play some of the players and he has even said that he won't use more than a ten man rotation so on this deep team minutes may be hard to come by. Even with that though there is reportedly still a solid chance for rookie Terry Rozier to find some minutes and work his way into the rotation, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.
The Celtics have three rookies that are virtual locks to make the roster in Rozier, R.J. Hunter and Jordan Mickey but Rozier was the first of those three selected in the draft and he likely has the best shot at playing time. Rozier was selected 16th overall by the Celtics after playing two seasons at Louisville where the 21 year old is coming off a breakout season. In 36 games the point guard averaged 17.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Rozier is actually known for his defense but last season his offense seemed to catch up to his defense which is why the Celtics were so high on him.
Although the Celtics have an extremely deep roster they aren't quite as deep at the guard position as they are in the frontcourt. Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas are the point guards while Avery Bradley and James Young are the shooting guards that figure to get time. One injury could lead to playing time for Rozier as he is next in line behind those guys but even without an injury there still might be a role for him.
Stevens compared how he might use Rozier to how Phil Pressey was used the past couple of years as the third point guard. Pressey played in 125 games over the past two seasons with the Celtics and played 13.9 minutes per game so there is a way to get Rozier on the floor as a rookie.
Rozier has earned rave reviews from teammates at training camp so far and although Stevens wouldn't commit to it he seems open to the idea of giving Rozier playing time to possibly provide a spark. The Celtics clearly like their rookie point guard and want to give him a role early on it is just a matter of if they can make it work, but based on their work with Pressey over the past two years it seems as though they will be able to.
