BOSTON — When the Indiana Pacers hit the floor at TD Garden on Wednesday night to take on the Boston Celtics, it will be Aaron Nesmith’s first time facing the team that drafted him.
Nesmith struggled to carve out a consistent role over his two seasons with the Celtics before Boston traded the No. 14 overall pick from the 2020 NBA Draft this offseason in the deal that helped the organization acquire Malcolm Brogdon.
But there’s no grudge holding from the 23-year-old for things not working out in Boston. Instead, Nesmith looks back fondly on his brief stint with the Celtics as he now tries to get his footing in the league with the Pacers.
“I learned a lot from my time here,” Nesmith told reporters at Pacers morning shootaround Wednesday, per Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow. “In my two years, I played with great teammates on a great team. We had a fantastic Finals run. There’s nothing more I could really ask for.”
Nesmith has earned a bigger opportunity with the Pacers than he ever did with the Celtics. He has seen his playing time double this season compared to last by averaging 22.2 minutes per game.
Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla has seen from afar Nesmith make the most of this new-found chance. The Vanderbilt product is putting up 8.8 points per game while shooting 38.7% from deep to go along with 3.5 rebounds.
While Nesmith’s strong outside shooting keeps his ceiling high, it’s his energy and work on the defensive end that has earned him a spot on the court.
And Nesmith believes it was his time spent with the Celtics that turned him into a reliable defender.
“That’s something that I’ve got to credit my time here for,” Nesmith said, per Snow. “That was how I was able to play here. If I got into a game, it was because I was able to play defense here. So that really helped me over the past two years to be able to take that into Indiana and just help me grow even more.”
Nesmith will have those defensive skills tested back on the parquet floor Wednesday, but his assignment could be a much stiffer one than he is used to with the Celtics possessing two elite wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
But Nesmith certainly is looking forward to that challenge of competing against his former teammates.
