LAS VEGAS — James Young once again finished a summer league with more questions than answers about his game, and the Celtics guard didn’t have anything to add in the 80-75 loss to Portland yesterday in the club’s summer finale.
The team finished 1-4 in Las Vegas and 3-0 in Utah.
Young didn’t play yesterday because of what he described as a sore knee that has bothered him since the Utah Summer League.
However, Celts assistant Jamie Young, who only played James Young for seven minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland, clearly wasn’t happy with Young’s play that night.
“There were players playing harder at that time,” said Young, who coached the C’s in Las Vegas. “James is a good player with a lot of talent, but he needs to be more assertive. . . . James has got to keep working on his game. Same thing with Jaylen (Brown). He has to assert himself, be more aggressive, those types of things.”
Asked about his future with the Celtics, James Young shrugged.
“I have to play hard. I did good in Utah. I played hard, and that’s what the Celtics want,” he said. “The Celtics expect that.”
Asked about his sore right knee, he said: “It slowed me down. I wouldn’t say it affected me a lot, but it definitely slowed me down.”
Danny Ainge, asked yesterday about what he has seen from Young and how he regards the forward’s future with the team, said, “I thought he had a really good summer league in Salt Lake. I thought he played well. He only played (seven) minutes the other night. I think James is doing fine, but we have a lot of decisions to make. A lot is dependent on what deals we’re able to do or not do, like do we sign or not sign another free agent?”
Should the C’s decide to part ways, and are unable to include him in a trade, they would have to cut Young, who is scheduled to make $1.8 million next season with a team option the year after.
Finish with flourish
Brown finished his first summer league with a burst, posting 21 points, seven rebounds and five steals. He also took 21 shots, making for a particularly inefficient night. But the rookie forward’s athleticism is winning over his new teammates.
Jonas Jerebko, after watching Brown glide to the basket on one particularly tough play, said, “That was crazy. Jaylen has some really nice moves, a great feel for the game, a good body, so it will be interesting watching him mature.”
Indeed, with Terry Rozier (rest), R.J. Hunter (wrist) and Young all sitting out yesterday’s game, Brown embraced the lead scorer’s role.
At least he doesn’t have to be goaded to shoot.
“It’s his assertiveness,” said Jamie Young. “You go back to Utah, he missed two games, but this week I put him in better positions to succeed. As the week went along he was better, and his defense got better as well.”
Call to make
Ainge said he hasn’t made a decision on whether to keep rookie Guerschon Yabusele stateside, but the young power forward knows what he wants in a team if he returns to Europe. And it won’t be with his team from last year — Rouen of the French league.
“I want to go to a team that has a good coach, good players, that wants to play for a championship,” he said. “I want to follow my dream. My confidence after this is good. I’ve got good competition here and played very well. This was good for me.”
Happy to wait
Jerebko had no choice but to be patient when Ainge moved the deadline for exercising his option back to July 7, while Ainge attempted to put other deals together.
“Danny told me after the season he wanted me back, and I told him I wanted to be back, but do what you have to do and make the team better,” he said. “Then I’ll come back and do some things together. He called me, told me what was going on, asked for a few extra days and I said no problem, good luck. I hope we get somebody.”
But Jerebko had other business to keep him from fixating on his boss’ moves.
“To be honest I had my parents in town, I have a three-month-old daughter,” he said. “It wasn’t even on my mind. I wanted to wait for the 7th, and I knew I was coming back.”
