A note- try to do players who are not on the Celtics currently for this row. We’ve been pretty good about doing this already.

As seen above, Kemba Walker was the winner with u/Legal_Math4070 being the top comment, and second place was Antoine Walker, commented by u/NoKangaroo5425.

31 comments

  1. Rajon Rondo was terrible when he started, inconsistent scorer, poor jump shot and he eventualy developed into an all star caliber point guard and one of the better players in the league prior to being traded since we couldn’t compete anymore

  2. SAM JONES.

    Started slow. Off the bench. Started to ramp it up. Ended an 10x champion. 3x All NBA.

  3. I was thinking of success stories like DWhite, Rondo, or even career leaps like Isaiah Thomas and JB, but I wanted to do some research as well and I found a little tidbit that no Celtic player has ever won the Most Improved Player award.

    I know our franchise is really good at scouting talent, and I like to think in the past decade they have been pretty competent at developing talent, but that was a surprising fact to me.

  4. His good might not be amazing but Avery Bradley came in a prospect with low numbers and ended being one of our key players and scorers pre and during the IT era, which really made those years one of my faves despite not really being a contender

  7. Marcus Smart was a pretty horrendous offensive player his first couple seasons

    Ended up as the orchestrator of a Finals Team and winning DPOY

  9. Not as a player, but as a GM- Danny Ainge.

    Scrutinized for trading Antoine Walker, butted heads with Jim O’Brien, oversaw the worst season in team history, then did a 180 with the KG and Ray Allen trades. Then he signed Brad Stevens. Then he fleeced Brooklyn and got the Jays. Then he knew when time was up and to give Brad the keys to the org.

    ETA: also as a player this works. Reading up a little bit, he had a rough rookie year and struggled for minutes. Then was an important piece of 2 championship teams and an all star in his last season here.

  11. Walter McCarty, really worked himself into a serviceable NBA role player.

    And maybe check stats to see if Bruce Bowen was a 3-and-D stud at the end of his Boston stint before achieving eternal glory in San Antonio.

  12. Chauncey Billups? Went from bouncing around the league because he was a combo guard (which was not yet in vogue at the time) to being a champion and a Hall of Famer

  13. I think Jaylen brown matches this really well. He looked rough at times as a rookie and wasn’t really expected to be much aside from being a good defender and slasher. Bad handle, inconsistent shot. The amount of development he has had year by year has been crazy.

  14. are we saying strictly celtics career or looking beyond it?

    Leon M.F. Powe kept his siblings together as best he could in the foster system in Oakland, made it to Cal as an All-American, and contributed heavily to winning the title in 2008.

    if that ain’t making lemonade, i don’t know what is. dude also has an all-time great name.

    and just for your voting consideration…

    https://youtu.be/XI5SIsXoRyA?si=wuLoNa9xIYQ0XSao

  15. Derrick white.

    He had a playoff game vs MIL where it looked like he was fixing the game for the mob.

    I believe it was game 1 in that series, the first year we had him.

  16. Brian Scalabrine. He was not a great player but became the Celtics “human cigar”. You know if he went in the game was out of hand but would always try and knock down a few shots before the buzzer. He also won a championship and now is the color commentator for the Celtics TV broadcast

  21. Marcus smart….
    I hated him the first couple seasons..
    But then I loved him and was super sad when he got traded..
    His game definitely improved over his seasons with the C”s

  22. Started bad, ended good – Rondo seems like a good choose, but I am reluctant to say he started bad given that he led as a PG his second season he certainly blossomed as the Big 3 were fading away…but his intelligence to defer early definitely helped win Banner 17.
    Started okay, ended good – Jayson Tatum finished 3rd in rookie of the year voting (draft picks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11 didn’t finished ahead of him, so it was most definitely the right pick)…maybe that’s an okay start?
    Started good, ended good – Larry Bird or Bill Russell, flip a coin

  24. I think we need to clarify as the “good” part is when they left the Celtics. Doesn’t even have to be good in terms of basketball as a whole but just a player we loved. I vote for Waltah.

  26. marcus had a rough start but became a dpoy all defense player who was a key piece to playoff teams who made deep stretches and almost got us 18… his value went up so much we got PORZINGIS AND TWO FIRSTS HE BLEEDS GREEN

  28. For stint with the Cs it has to be Evan Turner

    Came in as a last chance signing on a two year 6.7mio contract, after struggling with the Sixers and Pacers

    Left to sign a 4yr 70mio contract with the Blazers

    Brad became a darling for players and agents with this reclamation project

  31. Avery bradley. Couldn’t get a minute but ended up taking rays starting spot before forming a solid back court with IT

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