Romeo Langford hasnt even reached the 40 games played mark in the NBA but it's quite possible that the Boston Celtics will have to rely on him if they want to turn their season around. Boston is currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings with no other reinforcements on their way. Despite the fact that Langford has spent most of his brief NBA career on the injury report, circumstances could force the Celtics to roll the dice on the 21-year-old guard.
As of right now, Langfords injury history is far longer than the list of his professional accomplishments. The Celtics were able to draft the Indiana standout with the 14th pick in 2019 even though he was playing through a torn thumb ligament. They knew he would be something of a project, but they couldnt have known about the series of calamities that would follow. Langford's NBA debut was delayed by a rolled ankle and even though he proved to be productive once he finally started getting NBA minutes, he couldn't shake the injury-prone label. A torn ligament in his right wrist ended his rookie season and the subsequent offseason surgery would delay the start of his second. When Langford was finally cleared to return last month, he immediately found himself stuck in the leagues health and safety protocols.
Understandably, Langford has been treated more like an afterthought than the Celtics top pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. That doesn't mean that he wont be in Boston's plans now that he can actually participate in basketball games. Langford finally saw the court in last Sundays contest against the Charlotte Hornets. He scored a mere three points while making one assist, but he showed the same defensive intensity that he had before his most recent injury.
This, apparently, was enough for head coach Brad Stevens to feel comfortable inserting him into the starting lineup just two games later. This time around, he picked up six points and six rebounds in 25 minutes in what ended up being a 101-99 win over the New York Knicks. Nothing too impressive, obviously, but it was a clear sign that the team wasn't going to shy away from handing him potentially difficult assignments.
In an ideal world, Boston wouldnt have to do that, but things havent been so ideal this season. In particular, Bostons defense has struggled against even the more harmless teams. If there's one thing that Langford has shown the Celtics, it's that he can already defend at the NBA level. That alone could earn him quality minutes, even if he needs more time to develop his offensive skills.
There's another factor at play here, however. The Celtics youth-heavy bench has been the furthest thing from reliable. Grant Williams has proven himself useful, particularly in how he can fill in as an undersized five, but the likes of Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard, Tremont Waters and Tacko Fall have only occasionally contributed. This means that Langford, for all the time he has missed, is coming in with a good chance to establish himself simply because so few others have.
The Celtics are not going to get any outside help. They struck out in the buyout market and Evan Fournier, their major trade deadline acquisition, isnt with the team on their current West Coast road trip thanks to those aforementioned health and safety protocols. Their best-case scenario could very well include Langford becoming that difference-maker they just couldnt find on the NBA market. Whether that's a realistic hope or not remains to be seen.
