Aaron Nesmith Reflects on Time with Celtics and Pacers Trade

BOSTON — Daniel Theis gave Aaron Nesmith a hug behind the stanchion and told him to not be nervous as a group of reporters welcomed him back to TD Garden on Wednesday morning. The former Celtic returned to the Garden for the first time since getting traded alongside four teammates for Malcolm Brogdon in July.

“I’m never nervous,” Nesmith said as Theis walked away.

The Pacers gave Nesmith the opportunity to play each night for 22.2 minutes per game and he found a role as a shooter and defender on a team surprisingly in the playoff mix through the quarter point of the season. Nesmith is averaging 8.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 38.7% from three, a mark that’s up to 47.2% over his past 53 attempts. He settled into a groove after battling a plantar fascia issue early in the season.

The Celtics couldn’t afford Nesmith the same minutes after they drafted him in a turbulent 2020 process that included a cancelled NCAA Tournament, draft workouts, Summer League and drafted that got postponed until November. Nesmith didn’t play much five-on-five during the layoff, Brad Stevens couldn’t do his typical group work in an abbreviated training camp and the Celtics’ two rookies, including Payton Pritchard, entered behind.

Nesmith played sparingly behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown despite the team’s wing depth need following Gordon Hayward’s departure. He shot 31.8% from three through his first 29 games into April, and only 36.6% from the field on 3.2 attempts per game. With so little playing time to gain an advantage in his area of expertise, Nesmith changed his game entirely toward hustle. Crashing to the floor. Chasing rebounds. Defending aggressively. Teammates, including Marcus Smart, began calling him crash as assistant Joe Mazzulla worked out with him personally through his shooting struggles.

“Aaron’s great,” Mazzulla said on Tuesday. “He came into a situation where he had an opportunity, and it was also up-and-down for him, and I thought he handled it with great professionalism. He works really hard, I thought he played hard, I watched a lot of film of this team, he plays really, really hard. So I’m really excited for the situation he’s in, he’s taken advantage of it.”

“His shooting is getting better. I think one of the things he doesn’t get enough credit for is his defense. He’s a great individual defender, great pick-and-roll defender, so he’s really found a role there of being a great defender and bringing energy to the team.”

Ime Udoka typically utilized the forward as an energizer, but the Celtics’ scheme proved challenging for Nesmith, who sometimes got lost in Boston’s elaborate switching scheme. Their slow start led to a tightened rotation. Udoka relied on sound defenders like Josh Richardson and Grant Williams for secondary wing minutes, leaving Sam Hauser and Nesmith without roles despite the team’s occasional offensive issues.

Nesmith’s most memorable moment in green came during Tatum’s record-tying 60 point game, where Nesmith piled up hustle plays and finished with 16 points as part of a 10-game closing stretch where he shot 45.2% from three. That success didn’t carry into the 2021 playoffs, where he hit only 5-of-18 attempts, and by the 2022 playoffs, he didn’t play often. He blocked three shots in 11 minutes in his Game 1 cameo against the Heat.

“No matter how much time he got, whether it was 12 minutes or one minute, he played his heart out,” Derrick White told CLNS. “There were so many times he’d be out of the play and sprint back and get a block or something. I’m happy to see him getting some time here in Indiana and he’s a great guy.”

Nesmith, who largely watched the NBA Finals from the sideline, admitted after the season he struggled mentally with his shot and needed to get away from the game for some time. He found solace in his hobbies, like golf and fishing, back in South Carolina and found out on the course the Celtics traded him, a shocking development. Pacers assistant and former Stevens assistant Ronald Nored shared conversations with his former boss about one of the players they were receiving and Nesmith drew rave reviews from the Celtics executive.

Once the trade finally became official, Nesmith arrived in Las Vegas and hit only 27% of his shots, but got to fire away freely 12.3 times per game across three appearances. That freedom to play and not look over his shoulder, question playing time and rush his motion had an impact on his play into a new role.

“I got over (the trade) and got ready for this opportunity,” he told CLNS. “Getting my rhythm back and getting in the flow of playing with these guys, everything has fallen into place. (Defense) is something I have to credit my time here, that was how I was able to play here. If I got in the game, it was because I was able to play defense here. So that really helped me over the past two years, being able to take that into Indiana and help it grow even more.”

Nesmith wouldn’t say whether he’d guard old friends Brown and Tatum tonight, smiling and saying he’s always up for the challenge. He’s finding his confidence early in games by taking on those challenges, compared to stressing about offense like he did in earlier in his career. His +0.7 defensive RAPTOR rating buoys his analytic impact, in the same league as Brown, while still trying to manage his fouling on that end.

There’s less stress on this retooling Pacers group. Rich Carlisle never mentioned rebuilding in his early conversations with the group, instead stressing habits they’ve carried into early upsets and competitiveness at 15-16. Tyrese Haliburton emerged as one of the league’s best point guards this season and gets everyone involved, which Malcolm Brogdon said likely stems from the freedom Carlisle allows his guards.

Theis, who’s recovering from knee surgery and will begin on-court work Friday, saw Nesmith’s energy carry to a higher level into training camp, along with a new sense of confidence evident in his bigger physique and cool demeanor answering questions at Wednesday’s shootaround.

He’ll remind Nesmith to stay calm as the energy level rises in the Garden closer to game time. In the morning, the only thing that shocked Nesmith was the skillful parking job of the visiting team bus backing into its space.

“I learned a lot from my my time here,” Nesmith said. “I played with great teammates on a great team. There’s nothing more I could really ask for. We had a fantastic Finals run. There’s memories here I won’t forget, but I don’t play here no more. I’m going out to get a win tonight”