All eyes shift to the point guard position of the Boston Celtics as the race to replace Rajon Rondo begins in training camp. The veteran is expected to miss upwards of six to eight weeks with a broken hand suffered in a home fall and the Celtics must be prepared to play without him. The team has no interests in acquiring someone via trade or off the free agent market, content with letting the depth of the roster battle it out for the open starting spot.
The Celtics have options to replace Rondo. They have talent options in fact. The team drafted Marcus Smart out of Oklahoma State with the No. 6 pick and many believed he was the future of the franchise. With doubt surrounding Rondo's intentions to stay past this season, Smart was being viewed as the heir to the point guard throne. However, he is a rookie with a lot of question marks to his name. Avery Bradley is an experience point guard, but the Celtics favor him as a shooting guard instead. Phil Pressey signed a free agent, but is not ready to be a starter.
According to A. Sherro Blakely of CSN Boston, the darkhorse to win the starting point guard job is actually Evan Turner. There probably Celtics' fans that did not even realize Turner was on the roster to begin with. The shooting guard is fresh off a failed stint with the Indiana Pacers after getting traded from the Philadelphia 76ers. Head coach Brad Stevens is not letting last year lower his confidence on Turner, currently viewing him as an excellent option to replace Rondo for the next few months.
Stevens has already said he does not was Bradley replacing Rondo. They are viewing him as strictly a shooting guard. Meanwhile, Turner has never played point guard full-time in his career. Yet, for some reason Blakely believes that Turner has good playmaking skills and his size would help with defense.
There is certainly a chance that Smart could end up winning the starting spot. However, the Celtics do not want to rush the rookie along. They have long-term plans for the point guard and if he is not showing promise right away then they do not want to throw him into the fire immediately. Starting Turner seems to be the safe option for now unless Smart wins over the coaches.
