While Kyrie Irving and Al Horford among others worked on their three-point shot, Australian big man Aron Baynes was in a lengthy discussion with a Celtics staff member, still recovering from a left foot injury that caused him to miss the six games leading up to the break, his return date still unclear.
The foot injury has been a frustrating interruption for Baynes, who missed 13 games earlier in the season with a broken bone in his left hand. The wretched injury run is in direct contrast to his previous four seasons, where he suited up in 307 of a possible 328 games.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale
“I’m on the baseline, I’m with the guys, talking to them. I try not to talk too much, I think sometimes guys get six or seven people in their ear when something bad happens so I’m just trying to offer support when I’m out there and at the same time, I’m just making sure everybody sees me doing the right thing. I’m pretty visible when I’m out doing what I need to do.”
On the back of an unlikely playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, Baynes was faced with a free agency decision: Look elsewhere for a more prominent role or return to Boston and launch an assault on the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Baynes re-signed with the Celtics, inking a two-year, $[U.S] 10.6 million contract, stating he had “unfinished business” in Boston.
“We were young, we did it with a lot of people that people didn’t expect much from,” Baynes said. “It’s always fun going out and exceeding expectations, but while we exceeded theirs, we didn’t exceed ours, that’s one of those things.”
While the media microscope is firmly locked on a Boston locker room trying to integrate all their pieces, Baynes says there is little conflict within the group, instead pointing to good health being the key to their chances down the stretch of the NBA season.
“There’s always challenges, every team faces challenges, we’ve just had a few different ones to what we did last year in the playoffs. It’s a good thing though, we still have everyone available, nobody is out long term, which is one of the positives compared to last year.”cheap nfl jerseys china nike
“Our depth is so big that it doesn’t matter if we are missing one or two guys, we still have the right guys that are able to step into the line-up and do what’s needed to come out with a win.”
While Baynes continues to work on his return to the floor, an aspect of his game he continues to improve is his shooting from beyond the arc.