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The Draft isn't for another month and Summer League is about a week after that, but we already know of one rookie that will be on the roster. Colton Iverson was drafted with a 2nd round pick last year (a pick that had to be purchased) and has been playing with a Turkish team all year.
He's not a gifted athlete or natural scorer, but he's a legit 7 feet with a 9'2" standing reach and he loves contact. He's also got a bigtime work ethic and plans to use that to secure his place on the team next year.
He used the past year wisely it seems.
"The same things that we liked about him still hold true: We love his physical play and his intensity," Ainge said. "I mean, he is a big, strong dude and, when he caught the ball in the paint, it takes two guys jumping on his back just to keep him from dunking it. Now, I thought that he slowly but surely picked up some of the pro concepts on defensive rotations that were different from college, he got better at that; he adjusted to the officiating and learned to play without fouling a lot better. I think his patience in the post improved."
I don't think Colton is going to come in and start putting up double doubles any time soon. He's already 25 years old and still described as "raw."
But clearly the Celtics thought highly enough of him to invest a draft pick in him and keep tabs on him all year in Turkey. So they see value there. Here's hoping that he can come in and be a rotation player that sets hard screens and makes opponents think twice about coming into the lane (which is a kind of rim protection itself).