Baylor Scheierman is making a strong early impression in Celtics camp, and Mike Conley didn’t waste much time saying so.
“There’s a lot more talent in here than I ever thought,” Conley said on day two of Boston’s training camp. “You could go down the list. Baylor has impressed me a lot.”
For a veteran like Conley, that kind of praise carries real weight. He’s been around long enough to know talent when he sees it, and he made it clear that Scheierman’s effort and instincts jumped off the floor right away.
“The other day, Baylor, I think I got like got like four offensive rebounds in one possession, and I just said, ‘I like him,’” Conley said. “Like that's all I need to know.
I like him. I like him a lot.
And obviously, he did a bunch of other things other than that. But his willingness to crash and keep possessions alive and make the right reads was impressive.
Stuff like that sticks out to me.”
That kind of activity matters for a player trying to carve out a bigger role. Scheierman’s path to minutes is going to run through the dirty work - rebounding, energy, and doing the little things that keep possessions alive - but Boston also sees more than just hustle. Joe Mazzulla said the summer is about players earning more responsibility, and he singled out Scheierman as someone who has treated his development seriously.
“I think that's what the summer is for. The ability to earn more,” Mazzulla said.
“Baylor's a guy that is extremely professional with his work and his development. If a guy earns it more, he earns it more.
I also think it's a natural progression for our team. The more guys that we have being able to do more things, the better it makes them.
Baylor works on his craft. Yes, he's great at the hustle stuff and the offensive rebounds.
But he takes the other stuff just as serious. I think he's gotten better at it more this summer."
Scheierman’s shooting already gave Boston something to work with last season. He finished just behind Luka Garza for the team’s best three-point percentage at 39.9%, and he ranked behind Payton Pritchard as the Celtics’ second-best corner three-point shooter at 49.4%.
If that touch holds, it gives him a foundation. If the rest of his game keeps moving, it gives him a lane.
Scheierman said the focus this summer was expanding what he can do with the ball.
“I think maybe just a little more on-ball reads and stuff like that,” Scheierman said. “A lot of times I was in like the little stuff of, you know, diving on the floor, getting offensive rebounds and things that I love to do and things that I can do at a high level. But then also I think my playmaking and my ability to see the floor is something that I think is a strength of mine.”
That combination is what makes him interesting for Boston. He has already shown he can defend, compete, and handle the work that doesn’t always show up in a box score. Now he’s trying to turn that into a bigger role, and Conley has already seen enough to be encouraged.
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