Semi Ojeleye

Ojeleye took a step backward last year in his development towards becoming a three-and-D bench contributor. In his sophomore season, the buff 24-year-old saw his minutes dip from 15.8 to 10.6 minutes per contest, and his three-point shooting regrettably continued to hover around 32 percent. Plus he was forced to endure 26 DNPs. The departure of Marcus Morris could open up some playing time for Ojeleye, though he's still behind Gordon Hayward, Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown and possibly rookie Grant Williams on the Celtic depth chart. Ojeleye is signed through the 2020-21 season, so he'll continue to be a mainstay on the Boston bench. Whether or not he'll improve on his modest workload is debatable.

When Ojeleye was drafted in the second round last June, he had G League written all over him. But then two important things happened. First, Gordon Hayward was lost to a season-ending injury. Then, Ojeleye quickly developed into a reliable three-and-D reserve, with an emphasis on the latter. It seemed like an odd transformation for the burly rookie, who averaged 19 points per game in his last season at SMU. But it led to Ojeleye averaging 16 minutes per game over 73 appearances as a rookie. If Ojeleye can improve upon his 32 percent shooting from behind the arc, he'll be an ideal reserve, though Hayward's return and a lack of attrition elsewhere on the roster could mean he'll struggle to match last season's workload on many nights.

Selected 37th overall in the 2017 Draft, Ojeleye is staring up from the bottom of the Celtic depth chart, facing a long list of veterans. With wings Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and fellow rookie Jason Tatum well ahead of Ojeleye, you can expect the 22-year old rookie to spend a lot of time shuttling back and forth between Boston and the team’s G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. But Boston’s three-for-one deal to bring in Kyrie Irving does free up some possible minutes for Ojeleye. The undersized yet severely muscular 6’6” rookie will see more time at small forward than shooting guard. His ability to create his own shot must intrigue Celtic management. The SMU product will need another quantity-for-quality Boston deal for any hope of seeing meaningful minutes, and even if that should occur, it’s doubtful the team would risk a possible Finals appearance by giving too many minutes to Ojeleye. Keep expectations low.