Failed Celtics Draft Pick Catches On With 76ers Summer League Team
When the Philadelphia 76ers released their Summer League roster Wednesday, there was a surprise with a former Boston Celtics guard on the list of players.
And it just might be the last chance for Romeo Langford to stick around with an NBA team.
Langford’s career surely hasn’t gone the way he hoped it would after the Celtics selected him 14th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. Langford turned into a bust of a draft pick as he failed to hold a consistent role in two-plus seasons with the Celtics, in which he averaged just 3.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists while also shooting 39.6% from the field.
A change of scenery didn’t help Langford, either. The Celtics traded him to the San Antonio Spurs in February 2022 in the deal that brought Derrick White to Boston — Brad Stevens sure looks smart for pulling off that trade given Langford’s struggles and White’s sensational rise, which landed him a massive contract extension.
Langford played just 47 games for Gregg Popovich’s squad over a season-plus and totaled 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He also shot a putrid 25.4% from 3-point range.
The Indiana product was then brought onto the Utah Jazz last season with an Exhibit-10 deal by former Celtics executive Danny Ainge. But the 6-foot-5, 216-pound guard was waived prior to the start of the season and he spent all of the campaign playing for Utah’s G League affiliate.
Langford is still just 24 years old and certainly will use the Summer League as an audition with the 76ers, who loaded up in the offseason to try to challenge the Celtics in the Eastern Conference.