The James Young conundrum

This kid can’t catch a break.

This kid can’t earn his break.

Every time it looks like he’s poised to get some regular minutes, someone else comes along and steals them from him.

Every time there are regular minutes to give him, someone else comes along and plays much better than him.

This is the struggle with James Young.

Struggle.

That’s what this season has been for him in a lot of ways.

A car accident cost him summer league. A hamstring injury cost him preseason. An ankle injury interrupted what may have been a blossoming stretch of use in January.

Each time the Celtics seem to make room for him, someone fills that gap.

We drafted a potential future wing scorer? Let’s see what this kid can do behind Jeff Green. Time to play JAMES YOUNG! Marcus Thornton.

Jeff Green’s gone? Time for JAMES YOUNG! Jae Crowder.

Marcus Thornton’s gone? Time for JAMES YOUNG! Gigi Datome.

Young didn’t play a single second last night in Miami. He played just under six minutes against Orlando.  After a stretch in early February where he was getting about 15 minutes or so a game, his March has seen his minutes slowly dwindle.  Which leads us to the conundrum…

Should the Celtics play the kid in an effort to develop him on the floor, or should the Celtics play the guys who have earned the minutes with their play?

Let him play

The kid has shown the ability to score the ball pretty easily at the D-League level. That’s nowhere near the NBA, but it’s not nothin’. That’s still a higher level than college with NBA rules, more advanced concepts, and guys desperate to make NBA rosters. There’s competition there and Young has proven he can dominate it.

No one is going to argue he’s playing great basketball in the NBA just yet, but he’s also a 19-year-old rookie who needs to get used to the speed and physicality of the next level. He needs to keep doing it so he can figure out where he’s making his mistakes and how to fix them.

What, are you worried he’s going to cost the Celtics games? So what? Are you really so swept up in this “playoff race” that we’re going to hinder his development for the right to get swept by Atlanta? Isn’t making sure Young is better down the road a little more important than this bumbling chase for an 8th seed?

Play the kid. Get him some minutes. Let him fail then teach him how to fix his mistakes.

Let him earn it

James Young has one skill that sets him apart from the rest of the crowd.

His ability to shoot.  We all know that this specific ability is what’s going to earn him his millions of dollars in the NBA.

So when we look at his shooting and realize that of the 81 times he’s shot the ball in 2015, only 26 of those have found their way through the rim (that’s 32%), it’s hard to argue that he’s earning anything at this point. He’s shooting 25% from 3 since January 1, which, by the way, is what Rajon Rondo shot from deep.

How can Brad Steven look his young team in the eye and tell them all “you’re all working extremely hard trying to win games, but we’re going to keep playing this kid who hasn’t been able to do the one thing he’s supposed to do well”?

You say he needs NBA minutes? Well, he’s getting them, against other NBA players in practices. He’s getting touches and running offenses and screwing up and learning from those mistakes (we hope).

When guys like Datome get scorching hot and show that they deserve to be on the floor, then they should be on the floor. This is a meritocracy. Yes, James Young needs to learn a lot of lessons about the NBA. This is one of them.

You earn your minutes. This should inspire him to put up more shots, lift more weights, run more sprints, and become a better basketball player.

So…

Here we are again.  I can completely see both sides to this. I’m sure Brad Stevens sees both sides too, which is why Young is even getting any minutes, really.

So maybe this back-and-forth, 20 minutes one night, zero minutes the next thing will continue for the last month of the season. Maybe Stevens will make a decision on him one way or another. Regardless, Young has a long way to go and a lot to learn. Somehow, he’s going to have to learn those lessons.