Celtics prospect Abdel Nader wins D-league rookie of the year


The future is bright in Boston indeed as not only did the Celtics three 1st round selections in the last years draft all rank in the top 7 of Chad Ford's prospects from the 2016 draft, but their final pick in the 2nd round (58th overall) Abdel Nader was just announced today as the D-League's Rookie of the Year:


Nader avergaged 21.3 points on 44.6% shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists in the regular season, and has helped lead the Maine Red Claws to the 2nd round of the playoffs for the first time in team history. On Wednesday night he had a monster performance in a series deciding game 3 to help the Red Claws eliminate their 1st round opponents, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants:


At 6'7 Nader is a swing-forward that can do a little bit of everything on he floor. He's a good ball handler, plus rebounder at his size, has excellent court vision and can stretch the floor with his outside shooting - he led his team with 99 three-pointers in their 40 regular season contests.

Alongside newcomer Guerschon Yabusele and a little help from the back-end of the Celtics roster in Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson the Red Claws have pretty formidable roster. Although with the Celtics in the playoffs it's unknown if Jackson and Mickey will be available Sunday night when the Red Claws take on the Raptors 905 (Toronto's affiliate) in the D-League Eastern conference finals.

Just to recap: The Celtics are the #1 seed in the East, have three of the top 7 players selected in last years draft, the D-League Rookie of the Year, and the best odds at selecting #1 in this years draft. The future is bright.





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