Latest news with #Nesmith
USA Today
12-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Boston Celtics jersey history No. 26 - Aaron Nesmith (2020-22)
The Boston Celtics have had players suiting up in a total of 68 different jersey numbers (and have three others not part of any numerical series) since their founding at the dawn of the Basketball Association of America (BAA -- the league that would become today's NBA), worn by well over 500 players in the course of Celtics history. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Celtics Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. With 25 of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Celtics to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover. And for today's article, we will continue with the ninth of 10 people to wear the No. 26, Boston forward alum Aaron Nesmith. After ending his college career at Vanderbilt, Nesmith was picked up with the 14th overall selection of the 2020 NBA draft by the Celtics. The Charleston, South Carolina native would play the first two seasons of his pro career with Boston, traded to the Indiana Pacers in 2022. During his time suiting up for the Celtics, Nesmith wore only jersey No. 26 and put up 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
Indianapolis Star
08-07-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Aaron Nesmith extension is a no-brainer. Bennedict Mathurin's isn't as clear cut. Pacers won't rush either
INDIANAPOLIS – After going deep into detail on what went wrong with free agent negotiations to try to re-sign Myles Turner, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard wasn't ready to go straight from that conversation to talking about more contract negotiations. So Pritchard asked for a reprieve when asked about wings Bennedict Mathurin and Aaron Nesmith, who are or will be eligible for contact extensions this offseason. "Can I just have like 24 hours please?" Pritchard asked with a laugh. "Literally guys, we went straight from the Finals to the draft to free agency to Summer League." The Pacers' first NBA Finals run since 2000 dramatically shrunk their time to prepare for the immediate events of the early portion of the offseason. However, Pritchard also said he's not in a rush to get to those contract extensions. The Pacers were obviously up against the clock when it came to re-signing Turner and once teams were able to negotiate with him he wasn't even on the market for a full day. They have more time with Mathurin and Nesmith and they apparently intend to take it. "We'll look at all those kinds of things," Pritchard said. "But I think that's a little premature. We have all summer and up until next year to do those." The Pacers have approached a few contract extensions with more urgency in the past. All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was offered and agreed to his max extension in the summer of 2023 within about an hour of becoming eligible. Of course the cases of Nesmith and Mathurin are a little different as neither are in quite max-extension territory as players, and the Pacers have reason to take their time in both cases. That's especially the case with Nesmith who formally becomes eligible for an extension in October. He still has two years left on the three-year, $33-million rookie scale extension he signed in October of 2023, but he becomes extension eligible on the two-year anniversary of when he signed the last deal. He has between Oct. 1 and opening night to sign an extension, but then he becomes extension eligible again next offseason and remains extension eligible all the way through the end of his contract in the 2026-27 season. The Pacers seem nothing but thrilled with Nesmith, but they obviously have reason to be very thrilled with his team-friendly contract. They have time to get him locked up for the future, but no reason to change the terms of the current deal with the Pacers already over the salary cap and headed toward the luxury tax. Nesmith has proven to be one of their most indispensable players, the man on the roster most willing to sacrifice his body on the team. Along with guard Andrew Nembhard, he is one of their top two perimeter defenders and though Nembhard more frequently takes on the toughest matchup, the 6-6, 215-pound Nesmith can take on some bigger players. Offensively, he fits perfectly into the Pacers' ball-movement based flow game as he doesn't need to have the ball in his hands much to score. He averaged 12.0 points per game on 50.7% shooting including 43.7% from 3-point range in the regular season. In the playoffs, he averaged 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, shooting 47.2% from the floor and a remarkable 49.2% from 3-point range with his 60 3-pointers being the most of any player in the NBA Playoffs. He made 8-of-9 3-point attempts in a 30-point performance in the Pacers stunning comeback win over the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals including 6-of-7 3s in the fourth quarter that flipped the game completely. "When I think about Aaron I think about all those 3-pointers and changing a game in five minutes," Pritchard said. "It wasn't eight points in nine seconds, but it felt right up there with it." Mathurin's situation is somewhat more complicated and has been throughout his three years with the Pacers. The No. 6 pick in the 2022 draft has on one hand matched the level of hype that came with being the Pacers' highest-selected player since Rik Smits was taken No. 2 overall in 1988. He was first-team All-Rookie, produced the third-highest rookie scoring season in Pacers history and is the third leading scorer in the 2022 draft class behind only Orlando's Paolo Banchero and Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams. Those two All-Stars are likely to earn max extensions this summer. However, Mathurin has had a hard time sticking in the Pacers' lineup because his willingness and desire to try to score 1-on-1 frequently leads him into isolation situations that don't fit with the Pacers normal offense. He started 49 games this season, but was mostly relegated to the bench after Nesmith returned from an ankle sprain suffered in November that cost him 35 games until his January return. His numbers weren't as good off the bench as he averaged 16.7 points per game as a starter but 14.6 per game as a reserve and 11.0 per game in the playoffs when he came off the bench exclusively. Those numbers make it difficult to know what kind of an extension would be appropriate and Mathurin might not be interested in being paid like a bench scorer. He also has a chance to increase his value this upcoming season with Haliburton out for the entire season with an Achilles tendon tear. Mathurin will likely begin the season in the starting lineup and might find the offense more focused on giving him the opportunity to score. That could lead the Pacers to want to pay him more before he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2026, but it could also lead him to simply getting a better offer elsewhere. Either way, it might be wise for the Pacers to wait and see what happens before making a commitment to him. "Those guys, in my opinion, still have levels to move up," Pritchard said referring to Nesmith and Mathurin. "That's what I like about this team. We're not this team that, 'OK, that's what they are.'"
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Boston Celtics forward was ‘blindsided' by Pacers trade (report)
While Aaron Nesmith has starred for the Pacers on his way to another NBA Finals appearance, to start his career, he was just looking for an opportunity with the Celtics. Nesmith was picked 14th overall in the 2020 draft, spending the first two seasons of his career in Boston. But playing time was hard to come by on such a loaded roster. So after the C's made the 2022 NBA Finals, they dealt Nesmith to the Pacers as part of the Malcolm Brogdon trade. Turns out, Nesmith took it hard, according to his father, William Nesmith, who spoke with ClutchPoints in a recent story. Advertisement 'He was disappointed. He liked playing for Boston. He was actually out playing golf when he got the call,' the elder Nesmith told ClutchPoints. 'He didn't know. So, he was blindsided by it and wasn't so happy about that.' Nesmith has flourished with Indiana since the trade, developing into a stellar 3-and-D player. That's why he was drafted out of Vanderbilt in the middle of the pandemic as his shooting and defense were expected to be his calling cards. Nesmith had a relatively slow start to his career, though that was partly due to the wings in front of him in the C's rotation. But now, Nesmith looks the part of a legit contributor. These playoffs, he's averaging 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20 games, shooting 49.1% on his 3-pointers. Nesmith has also had some massive games, including Game 1 of the East Finals against the Knicks, where he was crucial to the victory. The Pacers are currently tied 2-2 with the Thunder in the Finals going into Monday's Game 5 in Oklahoma City. So, it all worked out for both sides. The Celtics eventually flipped Brogdon to the Trail Blazers as part of the Jrue Holiday deal. Boston went on to win the 2024 NBA Finals, its 18th championship in franchise history. Nesmith got much-needed playing time for his development as he should enjoy a long NBA career. Advertisement 'I'm never ever going to be angry at Boston because Boston picked him up in the lottery with a broken foot,' William Nesmith said. 'It didn't seem like it was going to work out in Boston. So, I was happy when he came over here and he got a chance to play because I realized when you get to this level, you still need a little luck, and you need to be in the right place. More Celtics content Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Celtics guard credits Joe Mazzulla's impact amid NBA Finals run
The Indiana Pacers are two wins away from an improbable NBA Finals win, and one former Celtics wing has been an integral part of their success. Aaron Nesmith is putting together some of the best basketball of his career during the past few weeks, averaging 13.2 points and 5.8 rebounds during 20 postseason appearances while playing tenacious defense against the 68-win Thunder. Nesmith drew an offensive foul in the second quarter of Game 4 on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which drew an anecdote from ABC play-by-play announcer Mike Breen about a conversation he had with Nesmith. Advertisement '[Nesmith] said somebody who made a huge impact on him was Joe Mazzulla,' Breen said. 'He said the guy was with me every day, he pushed me and pushed me. He made such a huge impact on him.' Nesmith spent the first two years of his career in Boston after being taken at No. 14 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. Mazzulla worked with Nesmith directly as an assistant during those two years when Nesmith was largely developing and mostly outside of Boston's regular rotation. The Celtics elected to trade Nesmith as part of a deal for Malcolm Brogdon in June 2022, just months before Mazzulla was named Celtics interim coach. Even before Nesmith's breakout in Indiana, Mazzulla was high on the former Boston prospect, highlighting the areas where he's thrived during his three years in Indiana. Advertisement 'His shooting is getting better,' Mazzulla said back in 2022, the year after the Celtics traded Nesmith. 'I think one of the things he doesn't get enough credit for is his defense. A great individual defender. A great pick-and-roll defender. So, he's really found a role there of being a great defender and bringing energy to the team.' Mazzulla also credited Nesmith for how he handled a challenging situation in Boston. '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,' Mazzulla said. 'He works really hard. I thought he played hard, and I watched a lot of film of the other team, he plays really, really hard. So, I'm really excited for the situation that he's in. He's taken advantage of it.' Nesmith and the Pacers will look to reclaim the series lead in the NBA Finals on Monday night as the 2–2 series shifts back to Oklahoma City for Game 5. More Celtics content Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pacers vs. Thunder odds: Best bets, predictions for NBA Finals Game 4
The Indiana Pacers won Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, 116-107, over the Oklahoma City Thunder as 5.5-point home underdogs, continuing Indiana's impressive postseason run against the spread. The Thunder are now 0-8 ATS on the road in the 2025 playoffs. Oklahoma City came into the NBA Finals as huge -700 favorites at BetMGM, and very few people expected them to be down 2-1 in the series. But even with the deficit, Oklahoma City is still the -250 favorite to win the series at BetMGM, with Indiana a +200 underdog. Advertisement Oklahoma City is a 6.5-point road favorite in Game 4 with a total of 226.5. The spread is the biggest for any road favorite since at least the 1991 Finals. The second-largest was the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers, a team that was -6 in Game 5 at the Philadelphia 76ers in that series. Yahoo Sports asked handicapper Jon Metler for his thoughts on some best bets for Game 4 of the Finals: Game 4: Oklahoma City Thunder (-6.5, 226.5) at Indiana Pacers Metler: "All eyes were on Bennedict Mathurin in Game 3, but let's not forget it was Obi Toppin who poured in 17 points in Game 1 after knocking down five triples against the Thunder. After going under his point total in Game 3, this number has dropped from 10.5 to 9.5, creating an edge we can attack. Toppin scored eight points in Game 3 but failed to hit a 3-pointer on three attempts. If Toppin was knocking down 3s and still falling short of his total, that would be a red flag — but it's quite the opposite, as he managed eight points without a 3-pointer. Advertisement "Toppin is giving the Pacers good minutes, leading them in plus-minus in Games 1 and 3, and there's no reason to assume he'll see a dip in minutes in Game 4. His athleticism has served him well against the Thunder defense, and I believe the over 9.5 points should be trading closer to -195 than even money." Best bet: Obi Toppin over 9.5 points (+100) Metler: "Yes, you're reading that correctly — the total is 0.5 for (Aaron) Nesmith, and the over is trading at plus money. Nesmith isn't a high-assist player by any means, but this is a Rudy Gobert-type line. The bottom line is that Nesmith is a starter on a team where the ball doesn't stick, so it's very possible to luck into an assist without doing anything particularly special. Advertisement "Nesmith has only one assist in the series, but he's averaging 2.7 potential assists per game. That's a high number for someone whose over 0.5 line is priced at +110. Nesmith played just 22 minutes in Game 3, which I don't think will be the norm going forward — but even if he sees the same limited minutes in Game 4, there's still a solid edge on this prop. I think Nesmith should be trading closer to -180 for Over 0.5 assists in Game 4." Best bet: Aaron Nesmith over 0.5 assists (+110) Metler: "Mark Daigneault has moved away from the double-big lineup in the NBA Finals, and now we're seeing (Isaiah) Hartenstein priced like a player who will play fewer than 20 minutes in Game 4. That's where the edge lies — even if Hartenstein only plays 18 minutes, there's still value on this prop. As Myles Turner continues to bully Chet Holmgren in the paint, who's to say Hartenstein doesn't start stealing some of Holmgren's minutes? "The Thunder have tried using Holmgren at the nail as a passer to cutters in the dunker spot — a role much better suited for Hartenstein. We saw Hartenstein thrive in that exact setup in Game 2, where he racked up 9 potential assists. Even with limited minutes, I believe Hartenstein's 2+ assists should be trading closer to -190, creating a clear probability gap we can exploit." Best bet: Isaiah Hartenstein 2+ assists (-128)
