BOSTON — Celtics rookie Romeo Langford has not participated in live-action drills at the start of training camp due to a groin injury but coach Brad Stevens said the lottery pick could be cleared for contact as early as Friday.
Langford, the 14th overall pick in the June draft who sat out summer league while recovering from thumb surgery, has engaged in shooting drills at camp but has not done contact activities due to the groin strain.
"Romeo tweaked his groin but, as you can see even in the shooting stuff, he could be live any day,” Stevens said after Thursday’s morning workout. "We didn’t go live today, other than a little bit against coaches in a slower drill. I’m guessing [Langford will] either be cleared [Friday] to play live or the next day.
"He’s been around so much, this won’t set him back at all.”
The Celtics have eight rookies in camp and Langford has flown quietly below the radar after missing summer league. While much has been made about his tweaked shot mechanics — something the Celtics worked with him on while he was sidelined — Langford did catch the attention of teammates during informal workouts before the groin strain.
"In the summer, it was good working with him,” said Gordon Hayward. "I didn’t get a chance to see him too much at [Indiana University], but certainly he’s got the NBA size, and to me, he reads the pick-and-rolls a lot better than I thought a younger player would be at reading pick-and-rolls. He was really good at holding his man off, had a good feel for the timing of it.
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"He hasn’t played live yet at training camp … but in the summer he was kind of a heady player.”
Langford played all of his lone season at Indiana with the thumb injury that required surgery after the season. It might have allowed him to stay on the board long enough for the Celtics to get him in the late lottery. Much of the summer buzz about Langford was his ability to create for himself and finish near the basket. That’s a skill set the Celtics could use, though the glut of wings could initially limit Langford’s playing time during the 2019-20 season.
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