Baylor Scheierman looked like an NBA player in Summer League debut

Every year, NBA prospects descend on Las Vegas and show tantalizing skill sets that prompt wild overreactions. 

Celtics fans might remember Carsen Edwards, whose 3-point shooting looked like it might demand minutes in the regular season in 2013. Millennial Celtics fans might remember being swept up by Kelly Olynyk Fever when he took the Orlando Summer League by storm as a rookie in 2012.

Getting overexcited by prospects is a tradition, so consider this our contribution to this year’s frenzy: In his debut as a Celtic, Baylor Scheierman looked like an NBA player. 

Scheierman admitted after the game that he had some nerves. That seemed evident on his first couple shot attempts, which included a couple of brutal misses. 

But Scheierman started to settle in, and over the course of the Celtics’ 119-114 loss to the Heat, he started to heat up with several jumpers, including a couple of shots in the second half that barely disturbed the net as they fell through. 

There’s an ease to Scheierman’s shot that suggests he has more potential than most as a shooter. Much is often made about a player with repeatable mechanics, which are crucial, but a shooter of Scheierman’s caliber can repeat elements of his shot even when each shot looks a little different – off the bounce, off the catch, and off the dribble.

Another encouraging sign: When Scheierman’s shot wasn’t falling early, he contented himself by finding his teammates. 

“I’ve said it multiple times, but I’d rather get an assist than score a bucket, especially if it’s like a cool pass,” Scheierman told reporters after the game. “I’m always looking for my teammates and trying to get them open shots.”

Scheierman’s first assist was a drop-off out of the post to Anton Watson, threading the needle between two Heat defenders to create an easy layup. His second was a cross-court skip to Jahmius Ramsey, the kind of look the Celtics’ rotation players often create for one another. 

But Scheierman’s best two assists may have come in the second half. Late in the third quarter, Scheierman grabbed a rebound, took a dribble and whipped a half-court pass to Watson. Like a good quarterback — which, by all accounts, actually does describe Scheierman — he passed Watson open, and his fellow rookie took it to the rim for a layup. 

Late in the fourth, Scheierman came off a pick-and-roll with Neemias Queta. Queta’s defender closed to Scheierman, who pump-faked him into the air, then ducked forward and found Queta for a dunk. 

Scheierman’s assists weren’t simple move-the-ball-around-the-perimeter passes, or even pick-and-roll reads. He has a natural feel as a passer that can’t help but pique a viewer’s interest, especially after watching him splash 3-pointers.

Scheierman wasn’t perfect, especially in the first half. He committed six fouls in 24 minutes, often a sign of an overmatched defender trying to make up for his struggles by trying (and failing) to play more physically. Defending Heat guard Jaime Jacquez Jr., Scheierman was overmatched on several early possessions, and he struggled to box out and rebound. 

Jacquez’s presence on the Heat Summer League team was a bit of a surprise — he placed fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and was a regular contributor (and very promising prospect) in Miami.

Still, having Jacquez on the floor offered a more translatable look at Scheierman’s defense. After his early struggles, he showed some flashes poking his nose into passing lanes, and he stood up Jacquez on one particularly noteworthy defensive possession. He might not be Jrue Holiday, but flashes against a rotation NBA player in Summer League are a positive development. 

“I was happy they gave me that assignment,” Scheierman said. “That’s something I enjoy and I’m not going to back down from and I’m going to compete.”

Fans, of course, would be wise to temper their expectations any time they are talking about a Summer League performance, and especially when the prospect in question has precisely 24 minutes under his belt. Scheierman’s defensive struggles are probably real, and if they are, that alone could be enough to keep him out of the Celtics’ rotation next season.

On the other hand, Scheierman has a collection of skills that, when combined, could be enough to make him an effective NBA player, and Las Vegas is a place where sometimes you need to hit on 16 and go all in based on a gut feeling. The eye test is unreliable, but after one game, the eye test favors Scheierman.

Other notes:

• Jaden Springer might be a little overqualified for Summer League. The Celtics wanted him to play because he got so few minutes last season (which, again, is one of the reasons to temper Scheierman expectations for this year: He is joining a team just as stacked as the team Springer joined last season), but the fourth-year guard is an actual NBA player competing against prospects fighting for roster spots. Whether or not Springer earns rotation time with the Celtics remains to be seen, but he belongs in the league somewhere. 
• J.D. Davison also looked the part of a seasoned fringe vet after completing a pair of two-way contracts with the Celtics. He finished 6-for-7 from the field with seven assists and – perhaps most notably – went 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Davison might be even more buried on the Celtics’ roster than Scheierman, but it’s easy to see why the Celtics want to keep him around – there’s a promising NBA guard in Davison, and it would be a shame to give up on that guard after all the time and development that Celtics have invested.
• Jordan Walsh had an inauspicious start: 1-for-8 from the field and 0-for-6 from behind the arc with questionable shot selection. The 20-year-old’s lone make was the first possession of the game, when he snuck in for a layup six seconds into the contest. Walsh has more than enough time to make everyone forget that performance, but he didn’t start well.

The Celtics and Lakers face off at 10:30 p.m. EST on Monday.

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