An emergent USA-based Nigerian basketball whiz-kid, Jesusemilore Talodabijesu (Semi) Ojeleye has been cited in the financial outlay of Boston Celtics for the incoming year, megasportsarena.com reports.
While many big name players in USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA) form the core of Celtics’ budget for 2021, Ojeleye gets a mention among the few number of collegiate intakes for the Boston-based sde.
The youngster is named number 12 on the rundown of value options outlined by the club, as The Celtics aim to take care of some important business at the stat of the year and will exercise their team options for two big men, Robert Williams and Grant Williams as well as wing star, Romeo Langford ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
This much was revealed by former NBA executive, Ryan McDonough, who noted that Boston’s have moved fast in order to keep all three players under control on their rookie deals through the 2021/22 season.
Robert Williams is set to become a free agent in 2022, while Grant Williams and Langford have team options in 2022/23 before hitting free agency, but ach player has the potential to make an impact with the Celtics.
Robert Williams, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2018, played 22 quality minutes on Sunday against Indiana Pacers and further showed that he can carve out a spot in the court rotation if he finds some consistency.
Similarly, Grant Williams appeared to earn Brad Stevens’ trust by getting playoff minutes as a rookie and can be a spark plug on the second unit, but Langford is out until at least January with a wrist injury and has not been able to stay healthy since Boston drafted him at No. 14 overall in 2019.
However, Langford is still just 21 years old and could give The Celtics some wing depth once he returns to action, even as the team now have most of their roster locked up through 2022, with Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, Jeff Teague and Javonte Green the only non-two-way players set to hit free agency next summer.
It is left to be seen what impact Ojeleye will make on Boston’s projected payroll for the 2021-22 season that has Kemba Walker ($36m), Jayson Tatum ($28.1m), Jaylen Brown ($24.8m), Marcus Smart ($14.3m), Tristan Thompson ($9.7m), Romeo Langford ($3.8m), Robert Williams ($3.7m), Aaron Nesmith ($3.6m), Grant Williams ($2.6m), Payton Pritchard ($2.1m) and Carsen Edwards ($1.8m).
Ojeleye is named in the UFA category along with Daniel Theis, Jeff Teague and Javonte Green, which arises from the fact that the Nigerian-born youngster (whose date of birth is December 5, 1994) made top marks while playing college basketball for both Duke University and Southern Methodist University.
The fast-rising lad, whose parents emigrated from Nigeria to Ottawa, Kansasin the 80s, starred at Ottawa High School and was named Parade Magazine National Player of the Year 2013, after which he chose national power Duke for college, but played sparingly for two seasons.
He soon moved over to SMU and led the team to both American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season and Tournament Championships in 2016/17, during which he averaged 18.9 points plus 6.8 rebounds per game and was named AAC Player of the Year.
Following the close of his redshirt junior season, Ojeleye entered for the 2017 NBA draft but did not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility of a return to The Mustangs, but he was invited to the 2017 NBA Draft Combine, in which he was one of 67 participants.
After some promising performances he announced that he would commit to the draft, thereby ending his college career, as he was chosen by Boston Celtics in the second round, after which Ojeleye made his professional debut on October 17, 2017 in a 102–99 loss to Cleveland Cavaliers.
During the regular season, Ojeleye averaged 2.7 points per game and shot 34.6 percent from the field, but emerged as a defensive presence, then started in Game 5 of the playoff series versus Milwaukee Bucks and held fellow-Nigerian-born NBA star, Giannis Antetokounmpo to 16 points.
