It can be tough to be a top recruit heading into college, get drafted, and then find yourself on the bottom rung of a roster after years at the top wherever you were playing. But that is the story for many if not most players making the transition to the NBA from the NCAA ranks, and success in the Association can often depend on how well that adjustment goes.
And both of the Boston Celtics selections from the 2026 NBA Draft are going through this themselves, with Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell both doing a good job adapting to their developmental role with Boston. The latter had some words for how he and Cenac Jr. have managed to find their niche with their new team in a recent interview.
"I know mainly for both of us as rookies, nobody's
expecting us to come in here and score all these buckets or do all these things," said Mitchell.
"It's the little things, and that's how we're going to be able to play," he added. "That's how we're going to be able to make an impact for the Celtics, rebounding, being the best defensive playmakers we can on the team, being listeners, communicating on defense."
"So a lot of it is not about scoring or anything offensively. A lot of it is defense and your effort and your hustle, and that's the main things they preach and we focus on."
And it should serve them well as they grow into larger roles with Boston in the future.
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Dillon Mitchell on how he, Chris Cenac Jr. finding niche with Boston Celtics
