I need to start with a confession: at the beginning of this season, I wasn’t a Baylor Scheierman believer.

Not because he wasn’t good, but more that he was hard for me to place. He wasn’t jumping off the screen in any obvious way, and he didn’t dominate one skill the way some of the other young Celtics wings do. On a roster full of players with already-sharpening identities, Scheierman felt like he didn’t have a clear lane coming into the season.

That’s beginning to change.

In Boston’s win over the Rockets on Wednesday night, Scheierman finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists in just 23 minutes. The box score was solid, but the context mattered more. He rebounded in traffic, knocked down his open looks, and stayed involved when plays broke down.

With Payton Pritchard shifting back into his familiar sixth-man role — another example of this team prioritizing collective success over individual status — at least one starting spot will quietly remain fluid from game to game. Outside of Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, there are fewer fixed answers than it might seem.

After a recent 112-93 win over the Sacramento Kings, Scheierman joked that opponents see him as, “a 6’7” white guy with shaggy hair and some tattoos,” someone they like to test. Early on, I probably saw him the same way. He was a player that was easy to overlook.

What’s becoming clear is that overlooking him is missing the point.

Instead of focusing on what Scheierman might become, I want to talk about the role he’s playing now, and how the Celtics are benefitting from it.

Joe Mazzulla’s system does not ask every player to bend the game, but rather asks them to understand it. Decisions matter more than volume, and connection matters more than individual output. The Celtics function best when lineups stay organized, possessions stay alive, and players know exactly why they are on the floor.

Baylor Scheierman does not need touches to stay involved. He rebounds to extend possessions, moves the ball quickly when advantages are small, and spaces the floor without drifting out of the offense. Defensively, his value shows up less in isolation stops and more so in anticipation. He’s clearly got a knack for reading actions early, understanding personnel, and staying attached long enough for the system to hold.

Scheierman has described his defensive strengths as “feel” and “understanding,” knowing what an opponent wants to do before they do it. That mindset lines up with how Mazzulla allocates trust. Players who remove chaos from possessions tend to earn more rope, especially when the roster gets thin over the course of a grueling 82-game season.

In that sense, Scheierman is not pushing to become something else, nor should he. He’s simply leaning into exactly what this team needs him to be.

If this is going to be a real conversation, we have to discuss the numbers. On the surface, Scheierman’s season averages do not exactly scream breakout. He’s averaging 3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and just under 1 assist per game, numbers largely in line with last season. What has changed is how efficiently he’s producing with his minutes. After shooting 35 percent from the field and 31 percent from three last year, Scheierman has pushed those marks up to 45 percent and 40 percent this season.

Things look even rosier when you zoom in on the last ten games. Over that stretch, Scheierman has averaged just over 22 minutes per night while posting 8.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. The production has followed the opportunity, and the efficiency has held. He’s not taking over more possessions; he’s simply doing more with the ones he’s involved in.

That trend shows up in lineup data as well. Units featuring Scheierman alongside primary creators have held their own on both ends, particularly in offensive efficiency and rebounding rate. The tape backs it up, too. Passes get tipped. Spacing stays intact. Possessions end with shots the Celtics are comfortable taking. Those are small things, but they travel across opponents and game scripts.

Taken together, this is why the recent stretch feels different from a hot week or a shooting blip. Under Joe Mazzulla, minutes are earned, not gifted. Scheierman’s efficiency has been steady, his responsibilities are clear, and his production fits within the structure of what Boston wants to be. 

That combination is usually a sign something is real.

The straightforward answer is he can be. The more honest answer is that the label matters less than the function.

On nights like last night, where the Celtics were severely undermanned, Scheierman showed he can absorb bigger minutes without changing the shape of the team. When he starts or closes or slides into any of Joe’s rotating carousel of lineup combinations, the Celtics still look like the Celtics. Possessions stay connected. Spacing holds. The offense does not tilt or stall. On a roster built around a star who bends defenses to his will (and with another potentially returning later this season), that kind of reliability is huge.

And it’s the reliability that speaks to something bigger about this Celtics team. They are not chasing individual leaps as much as they are identifying which parts need to be played and trusting the players best suited to play them. Scheierman fits because he does not try to stretch outside his role. Joe Mazzulla once described him as having, “a chip on his shoulder… an F-you mentality to where he’s just gonna make it work,” and that mindset shows up in the margins. He fills gaps, accepts contact, and stays involved in moments that break down for others.

Which brings me back to the beginning. I wasn’t convinced this would work. Early in the season, it was hard to know what to make of Scheierman, not because anything was missing, but because his impact wasn’t loud or obvious. It can take time for a picture to come into focus.

With Scheierman’s identity sharpening, the future has me optimistic. His minutes are starting to make sense, the contributions are beginning to stack, and when he’s on the floor, the Celtics stay true to who they want to be. To me, that kind of contribution matters more than any single label.

Somewhere along the way, I became a Bayliever. Or a Schei-liever? Those nicknames are both unpleasant and confusing.

Fortunately, Scheierman’s role on the Celtics is anything but.