BOSTON — Both of the Celtics rookies impressed in their preseason debuts against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.
Chris Cenac Jr., who was the 27th overall pick, recorded 7 points, 8 rebounds (4 offensive), 4 blocks, and an assist in 24 minutes. Dillon Mitchell, who was the 40th overall pick, recorded 10 points, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), 4 assists, and 2 steals in 28 minutes.
Celtics assistant coach DJ MacLeay, who served as the head coach for the second half of Thursday’s game, said the duo
of youngsters stood out to him most in the preseason opener.
“The two things that really stuck out to me were Chris, his ability to protect the rim, and then just him rebounding basketball — I thought he did a really good job of that,” MacLeay said. “And then Dillon, I thought, brought great energy, so that was great. Those two, I thought, really, really brought it from a motor perspective, and that was great.”
At Saturday morning’s Celtics shootaround, Cenac and Mitchell also earned praise from their more veteran Celtics teammates.
“They’ve been doing a tremendous job coming in with their work ethic, and I think that should be their only focus right now — just working on their craft, finding a way, staying ready, finding a way to get on the court,” said Payton Pritchard, now the second-longest-tenured player on the Celtics. “That starts defensively for them — rebounding, doing the little things.”
Baylor Scheierman, for his part, has been in awe of the two rookies’ natural athleticism.
“Dillon can jump through the roof… It’s absolutely insane how he can jump,” Scheierman said. “Same with Chris, honestly.”
Chris Cenac and Dillon Mitchell are both working closely with Craig Luschenat
Celtics director of player development Craig Luschenat has been working with both on their shot at every practice and shootaround.
“It’s really just getting reps,” Cenac said. “I had a pretty good jump shot in college and high school, so Craig didn’t really want to change up my shot or anything, so it’s really just reps right now.”
Mitchell, meanwhile, has been very impressed by the player development program.
“It’s been the best I could say I’ve been a part of for sure,” he said. “Just the attention to detail, how everything is as far as the development side of it, how communicative they are with you, what you got to work on, what you got to get better at, and then just attacking it, day in and day out, assisting with it. Every day, we’re in the gym trying to get better.”
MacLeay felt Luschenat prepared them both well for the preseason opener.
“Coach Craig did a good job of getting those guys ready,” MacLeay said. “The staff does a great job of trying to prepare those guys for what they can do to be impactful. Particularly with Chris, we talked a lot about protecting the rim, and we talked a lot about rebounding. And then Dillon, it’s just his activity, and I thought you saw all those things today.”
Both rookies will likely spend some time with the Maine Celtics, but if their preseason debuts are any indication, they are poised to eventually become impactful rotation players.
