It’s a new year for Jordan Mickey, who looks as though he’s added some strength to his 6-foot-8 frame.
But he needs to do more than that to muscle his way into being a regular member of the Celtics’ rotation.
Still, Mickey has made the most of his chances, which was evident in Boston’s 100-97 preseason win over Brooklyn on Thursday.
He managed to log 14 minutes on the floor, scoring six points on 3-for-6 shooting to go with six rebounds and a blocked shot.
And it was Mickey’s ability to defend and subsequently run the floor in the game’s closing minute that helped lift the Celtics to victory.
Second-year guard Terry Rozier threw a pass up the court to Jaylen Brown, who started to drive towards the basket, but decided to throw a left-handed behind-the-back pass to Mickey who finished the play with a dunk that eventually became the winning basket.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens has been pleased with what Mickey has brought to floor recently.
“Jordan’s had a pretty good couple of weeks, especially the last week,” Stevens told reporters following the win at Brooklyn. “We’ll see if that continues to play itself out. He puts in a lot of work.”
Mickey comes into camp looking to build off a rookie season in which he played significant minutes with Boston’s Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
Mickey was among the D-League’s top players, earning a spot on the D-League’s All-Star team.
While with the Red Claws, Mickey appeared in 23 games (all starts) and averaged a double-double of 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds with 1.3 assists and a league-best 4.4 blocks per game.
And when you look at what he did in his short stints with the Celtics last season, those numbers stand out as well.
Albeit a small sample size, Mickey appeared in just 16 games while averaging 1.3 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game.
More telling was what he was able to do defensively. According to NBA.com/stats, Mickey had a field goal defense differential of -12.6 percent, which means when Mickey was defending a player, they shot 12.6 percent less than they normally shot from that respective spot or distance.
Those are good numbers for Mickey.
But the number of bodies ahead of him in Boston’s frontcourt?
Not so much.
Al Horford and Amir Johnson are the starters at the two big frontcourt positions. Jonas Jerebko, Tyler Zeller and Kelly Olynyk are set to play in the frontcourt as well.
“He was in a spot with lots of depth [last year],” Stevens said. “He’s in a spot again with a lot of depth. But he can really impact us. He’s unique in his ability to move and block shots and those types of things. I feel good about how much progress he and Terry [Rozier] really have made.”