Aaron Joshua Nesmith (born October 16, 1999) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the Indiana Pacers of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

Early life and high school career

Nesmith attended

Porter-Gaud School The Porter-Gaud School is an independent coeducational college preparatory day school in Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Porter-Gaud has an enrollment of about 1000 students, comprising an elementary school, middle school, an ...

in Charleston, South Carolina beginning in the fifth grade and was first called up to the varsity basketball team as an eighth-grader. As a sophomore, he won the

South Carolina Independent School Association The South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) is a school accrediting organization. It was founded in South Carolina in 1965 to legitimize segregation academies.https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/blair_monica_k_201505_ma.pdf History SCIS ...

(SCISA) Class 3A state title as his team's leading scorer. Nesmith led Porter-Gaud to two more Class 3A state championships in his final two seasons. As a senior, he averaged 21 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game and was named South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year for his success in basketball and academics. He left high school as a three-time SCISA Class 3A player of the year. Nesmith was a four star recruit in high school and was the 64th ranked player in the country, the 12th ranked shooting guard in the country, and 2nd ranked in all of South Carolina. Nesmith would end up committing to Vanderbilt on 9/19/2017. Nesmith did not receive offers from any high major

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

programs until he was a senior, but he began drawing more attention after an

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) tournament in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. He was rated a four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

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and

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and committed to Vanderbilt over offers from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Harvard,

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, and Columbia.

College career

In his freshman season for Vanderbilt, Nesmith assumed an important role after

Darius Garland Darius Kinnard Garland (born January 26, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Born in Gary, In ...

suffered a season-ending injury and

Simisola Shittu Oluwasimisola "Simisola" Shittu (born 7 November 1999) is a British-born Canadian professional basketball player for the Lakeland Magic of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Vanderbilt Commodores. He was one of the top-ranked ...

underachieved. He started in a majority of his games and averaged 11 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, leading the Commodores in scoring in conference play. On February 18, 2019, Nesmith was named

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) Freshman of the Week following two career games. He scored a season-high 26 points against

and posted a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

of 24 points and a season-high 14 rebounds against Auburn. Nesmith made his sophomore season debut on November 6, 2019, scoring 25 points, including seven three-pointers, in a win over Southeast Missouri State. In the following week, he scored a career-high 34 points, hitting seven three-pointers, in an

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

loss to Richmond. Nesmith made four straight threes in a span of only one minute and 39 seconds. On December 6, Nesmith was named to the

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 195 ...

watch list. On December 21, he matched his career-high of 34 points and connected on seven three-pointers in a victory over UNC Wilmington. Nesmith scored 29 points and made eight three-pointers, the best mark of his career, on January 4, 2020, as his team lost to SMU in overtime. On January 11, 2020, it was initially announced that Nesmith would miss the remainder of the season with a right foot injury that he suffered in a loss to Auburn. In 14 games, he averaged 23 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, shooting 52.2 percent from three-point range. Nesmith was the fifth-leading scorer in the

and averaged the most points by a Vanderbilt player since Tom Hagan in the 1968–1969 season. He had been on pace to have one of the best three-point shooting seasons in college basketball history. However, after having surgery on January 28, Nesmith indicated that he might return before the end of the season. Nesmith did not return, and after the end of the season declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Professional career

Boston Celtics (2020–2022)

Nesmith was selected with the 14th pick in the first round of the

by the Boston Celtics. On November 24, 2020, the Boston Celtics signed Nesmith to a four-year, $16.5 million rookie contract including team options in the third and fourth year. With fellow rookie teammate, Payton Pritchard, absorbing many of injured Kemba Walker's minutes, it was difficult for Nesmith to crack the regular rotation for the first few months of the season. With injuries and Covid protocols plaguing the Celtics all season, extended absences from

Marcus Smart Marcus Osmond Smart (born March 6, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Smart was drafted with the ...

, Kemba Walker, and other key players gave Nesmith enough opportunities to showcase not only his shooting capabilities, but also his gritty hustle and winning attitude. By April 23, 2021, coach

Brad Stevens Bradley Kent Stevens (born October 22, 1976) is an American basketball executive and former coach who is currently the president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics. Born and raised in Zionsville, Indiana, Stevens starred on the Zio ...

had seen enough from the rookie to warrant consistent rotation playing time to which he hovered around 20 minutes per game for the rest of the regular season. On April 28, 2021, Nesmith put on a show with multiple career highs including 15 points, 9 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in a winning effort against the Charlotte Hornets. He continued this momentum into the next two games where he eclipsed, and then matched his then career high with back to back 16 point performances. He played for the Celtics in the

2021 NBA summer league The 2021 NBA Summer League was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The summer league cons ...

. On February 15, 2022, Nesmith recorded his Celtic career-high with 18 points in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers. In his second season, Nesmith and the Celtics reached the

2022 NBA Finals The 2022 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2021–22 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Golden State War ...

and lost in 6 games to the Golden State Warriors.

Indiana Pacers (2022–present)

On July 9, 2022, Nesmith was traded, alongside

Daniel Theis Daniel Theis (born April 4, 1992) is a German professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After seven seasons in the Basketball Bundesliga where he was a four-time All Star and three-time ch ...

Malik Fitts Malik Jahmal Fitts (born July 4, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Ontario Clippers of the NBA G League. He previously played for the Boston Celtics. He played college basketball for the South Florida Bulls and the Saint ...

Juwan Morgan Juwan Christopher Morgan (born April 17, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Ontario Clippers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers. Early life and high school career Morgan is the son ...

Nik Stauskas Nikolas Tomas Stauskas (born October 7, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball f ...

and a 2023 first-round pick, to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for

Malcolm Brogdon Malcolm Moses Adams Brogdon (born December 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers under Tony Bennett. As ...

. On November 19, Nesmith scored 19 points on 5-8 three-point shooting, while making two game-winning free throws with 9.6 seconds remaining, to defeat the Orlando Magic 114-113. On December 18, he posted new career-highs with 23 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the New York Knicks. On December 21, in a win over his former team, Nesmith recored 15 points and six rebounds as a starter, defeating the Celtics 117-112.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 46 , , 1 , , 14.5 , , .438 , , .370 , , .786 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .3 , , .2 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 52 , , 3 , , 11.0 , , .396 , , .270 , , .808 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 98 , , 4 , , 12.7 , , .417 , , .318 , , .796 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.2

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .278 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , 2.6 , , .2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .235 , , .091 , , .750 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , .3 , , .8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 20 , , 0 , , 6.4 , , .257 , , .200 , , .833 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.4

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Vanderbilt , 32 , , 19 , , 29.0 , , .392 , , .337 , , .825 , , 5.5 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .6 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Vanderbilt , 14 , , 14 , , 35.7 , , .512 , , .522 , , .825 , , 4.9 , , .9 , , 1.4 , , .9 , , 23.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 46 , , 33 , , 31.0 , , .442 , , .410 , , .825 , , 5.3 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .7 , , 14.7

References

External links

Vanderbilt Commodores bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesmith, Aaron 1999 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from South Carolina Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Indiana Pacers players Maine Celtics players Small forwards Sportspeople from Charleston, South Carolina Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball players