Mannix has passionate take on young Celtics players' lack of playing time

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The Boston Celtics are struggling right now, and a lineup change might be one of the most effective ways to spark some energy into this group.

The C's have three recent first-round draft picks -- Payton Pritchard, Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith -- who are capable of giving the team much-needed scoring, playmaking and shooting. None of these players have been a consistent part of the rotation through the first 17 games of the season. Langford is playing 18.3 minutes per game, while Pritchard and Nesmith are both under 10. 

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After the Celtics lost 111-90 to the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix gave a passionate take on why Boston needs to start playing its younger players more minutes.

"Join the chorus of smart people saying play Aaron Nesmith, play Payton Pritchard, play Romeo Langford. These guys need to play," Mannix said on Celtics Postgame Live". "What does this team have to lose at this point?

"They have a 116.3 defensive rating in the month of December. They can't get any worse at this point. We heard (Celtics head coach) Ime Udoka talk about the lack of energy. Let's put one of those young guys in the starting lineup. Put Romeo Langford in the starting lineup right now. Show me where the opportunity is (for the young guys), besides three-minute spurts."

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Mannix later added: "You've got to give these young guys some room to breathe a little bit. Aaron Nesmith at the end of last season was shooting like 40 percent from 3-point range over the final month or month-and-a-half. Payton Pritchard was a revelation all season last year. Both of these guys played great in summer league. Romeo Langford played well. He played well in the preseason.

"In the preseason and summer league they had a lot of room to breathe. They didn't have to feel like every mistake they made would get them yanked off the court. That's all I want -- an opportunity for these guys to play 30 minutes in a game."

Check out the full segment, including Kendrick Perkins' and Brian Scalabrine's takes on the subject, in the video below:

The Celtics do need to give Pritchard, Langford and Nesmith more playing time. If these guys are ever going to develop and reach their potential, it will come with game experience. Nesmith has the potential to be an excellent 3-and-D wing, but that won't happen if he's getting just a few minutes of playing time here and there. There have been several games where he hasn't played at all, or only in the last couple minutes of a game that's already been decided. 

Pritchard was a quality scorer as a rookie and even got playing time (and often excelled) during clutch situations late in games. Langford is a quality defensive player with intriguing playmaking ability.

Sure, these players have to earn playing time. The best guys need to play, especially with the Celtics desperate for wins right now. But the C's also invested first-round draft picks, including two lottery selections, in these three players. They have to see what these players can become. The best way to do that is giving them a consistent role and seeing how they fare.

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