The Celtics are a veteran heavy team that doesn’t have much P.T. for rookies.  That being said, they might have found a nugget in 26-year old center Greg Steimsma.  Steimsma has played in 6 games (1 start) for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 14.8 minutes, 3.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 2.2 blocked shots per game.  The Celtics love Steimsma’s defense and rebounding and he’s likely going to continue getting P.T. as Jermaine O’Neal tends to break down during the season.  22-year old power forward JaJuan Johnson has not gotten off the bench much so far this year.  He has played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 3.0 minutes, 0.8 points and 0.2 rebounds per game.  22-year old shooting guard E’Twaun Moore has also been nailed to bench so far this year.  Moore has played in 5 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Celtics and he is averaging 3.8 minutes, 1.0 point, 0.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game so far this year.

20-year old SG/PG Avery Bradley was sitting at the end of the Celtics’ bench most of the 2010-11 season, but not last night.  With the Celtics locked into the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, they gave him a chance to play.  Bradley played 27 minutes for the Celtics last night and he finished up with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.  For the season, Bradley played in 31 games (0 starts) in which he averaged 5.2 minutes, 1.7 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He only shot 34.3% from the floor and 50% from the free throw line, but it’s hard to judge him because he was rarely on the floor.  Last night reminded the Celtics of the player they drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft last June.

Rookie center Semih Erden was pushed onto the floor due to injuries to Shaq, K.G. and Jermaine O’Neal earlier this year and he responded by playing decent basketball.  Erden has played in 27 games (4 starts) for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 14.1 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  When everyone along the front line gets healthy, Erden will likely be pushed near the end of the bench but at least the Celtics now know that he can play.  Forward Luke Harangody had a nice game in a blowout a little over a week ago so the Celtics are starting to get him a few minutes every night.  Harangody has played in 20 games (0 starts) for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 8.2 minutes, 2.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Like Erden, the Celtics are starting to gain confidence in Harangody.  The Celtics have recently demoted rookie guard Avery Bradley to the D-League so that he could starting getting some playing time.  He has played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 4.7 minutes, 1.1 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  The Celtics are loaded with veterans at the guard spots, so Bradley could have an extended stay in the D-League.

24-year old center Semih Erden has been pressed into action this year due to the rash of injuries along the front line.  Erden has played in 20 games (2 starts) for the Celtics and he is averaging 13.9 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists  per game.  The Celtics need him to keep giving them solid minutes until the big guys return to action.  20-year old shooting guard Avery Bradley has been nailed to the bench so far this year.  He has only played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 5.6 minutes, 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  I don’t see him getting extended playing time any time soon.  22-year old forward Luke Harangody has played in 10 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Celtics and he is averaging 3.5 minutes, 1.2 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.1 assists per game.  Harangody is also blocked pretty good on the depth chart right now.

24-year old center Semih Erden has been getting a few minutes so far this year because the O’Neal’s have been banged up. Erden has played in 7 games for the Celtics so far this year and he is averaging 10.4 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He looks like a decent #3 center for the Celtics but his P.T. will come and go depending on the health of the guys in front of him on the depth chart. 23-year old forward Luke Harangody has only played in 1 game for the Celtics so far this year and he has played only 3 minutes but he made them count getting 4 points. Harangody is even further down the depth chart than Erden so I don’t see him getting much P.T. any time soon.

25-year old undrafted guard Lafayette Oliver out of Houston got into 1 game with the Boston Celtics this season. He played 22 minutes for the Celtics in that game and he scored 7 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and he dished out 2 assists. It will be interesting to see if the Celtics bring Oliver back over the summer and give him a chance to make the team next season or not. Regardless, he made a nice first impression in the NBA.

With the Celtics a little long in tooth maybe they should give rookie forward Marcus Landry some minutes off the pine. He played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Knicks before coming to the Celtics in the Nate Robinson trade and he is averaging 6.4 minutes, 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per game this year. He is also shooting only 39% from the floor this season and that’s not good enough to get on the court for the Celtics but it’s kind of unfair to judge him on his shooting yet as he is only averaging 6.4 minutes per game.

The Celtics have waived rookie shooting guard Lester Hudson. Hudson played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 4.4 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists. The Celtics didn’t have much playing time to offer Hudson so they likely did him a favor by letting him go.

25-year old rookie shooting guard Lester Hudson will likely only get garbage time minutes as a rookie unless the Celtics suffer a lot of injuries at his position. Hudson has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this season and he is averaging 5.5 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Don’t look for Hudson to make much of an impact this season for the Celtics.

The defending champion Boston Celtics have no playing time available for rookies right now. J.R. Giddens has not played in a game yet and Bill Walker has only played in 2 games. Walker is averaging 2.8 minutes per game and 1.0 point per contest. I have a hard time believing that Giddens or Walker will get much playing time the entire season unless the Celtics get ransacked by injuries.