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The seven of them should be second-year players getting ready for the start of training camp for the 2020-21 NBA season.

Instead, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, Tremont Waters, Tacko Fall, Vincent Poirier and Javonte Green are still being called Celtics’ rookies.

The first season in the NBA for those seven has turned out to be the [...]

The seven of them should be second-year players getting ready for the start of training camp for the 2020-21 NBA season.

Instead, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, Tremont Waters, Tacko Fall, Vincent Poirier and Javonte Green are still being called Celtics’ rookies.

The first season in the NBA for those seven has turned out to be the longest in league history, stretching into September after a shutdown of nearly four months due to the COVD-19 pandemic.

"We laugh with some of our rookies that they’ve now been rookies for over a year from a time a lot of them came to Boston and started working out,’’ said coach Brad Stevens recently. "That (stinks) for them, but eventually they’ll become second-year players, I guess.’’

For now, the rookies are finishing out their initial season at the Disney World bubble where the Celtics and Toronto Raptors, tied at 2-2, played Game 5 of their second-round series on Monday night.

The Celtics have had five rookies as part of the 15-man roster throughout the season while two others, Waters and Fall, are on two-way contracts and split time between the NBA G-League and the NBA.

Seven first-year players is an unusually high number to have. The Celtics had just two rookies last season in Robert Williams and Brad Wanamaker.

The Celtics have four picks in the Oct. 16 draft, including three in the first round (Nos. 14, 26 and 30).

With a regular-season rotation that includes Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward (who is currently injured), Marcus Smart, Wanamaker and Enes Kanter, there was little playing time for the rookies.

That has also been the case in the playoffs where only Grant Williams had appeared in all eight postseason games, averaging 12.1 minutes off the bench.

Williams ranked ninth during the regular season with his 15.1 minutes and scored 3.4 points with 2.6 rebounds in 69 games.

The No. 22 pick out of Tennessee provided some inside defense despite a lack of size. He got off to a rough start shooting 3-pointers, missing 25 in a row to start his career.

Williams has had the most impact of all the Celtics’ rookies with his defensive versatility.

Langford, the No. 14 pick, dealt with injuries that slowed his progress, especially during training camp.

Langford appeared in 32 games, averaging 11.6 minutes, but showed improvement as the season went on, especially at the defensive end. He suffered torn ligaments in the wrist during the last regular-season game against the Washington Wizards, but has continued playing.

In the playoffs, Langford has gotten into just five games, averaging 8.2 minutes.

The other five rookies have combined to play four postseason games, two by Fall and one each by Green and Poirier.

Fall finished up a blowout win over the Philadelphia 76ers, then was on the court guarding the inbounds pass by Kyle Lowry with :00.5 left on the clock in Game 3 against the Raptors. Lowry fed OG Anunoby for a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

In seven regular-season games, Fall averaged 4.7 minutes and had his named chanted by the crowd whenever he was in uniform.

Green played six minutes in one playoff game but is now sidelined after having knee surgery. He appeared in 48 regular-season games, averaging nearly 10 minutes.

Poirier, who left the bubble last week for the birth of his child, played two minutes in one playoff game after getting into 22 regular-season games.

Edwards has not appeared in a playoff game and was limited to 37 regular-season games, struggling with his outside shot. Waters, the G-League rookie of the year, got into 11 regular-season games but has not taken part in the playoffs and has been dealing with a left knee sprain.

Hayward returns

Hayward, who suffered a right ankle sprain in Game 1 against the 76ers on Aug. 17, has returned to Disney World after exiting the bubble two weeks ago.

Hayward spent time with his family in Indianapolis and is now in quarantine at Disney World. Stevens said that the 30-year-old forward is not close to a return to the court.

When Hayward was injured in the closing minutes of the first-round opener, it was estimated he would be out at least four weeks, which would be next Monday. But it looks like Hayward is going to need more time to heal.

If the series with the Raptors goes seven games, it would conclude on Friday night.

Should the Celtics still be playing in the next round, it is expected Hayward will be leaving for a few days for the birth of his son.

Matchup move

Center Robert Williams, who has had a strong showing in the series with the Raptors, played just two second-half minutes in Game 4.

Stevens said the move was dictated by matchups because of Serge Ibaka’s effectiveness on the pick-and-roll.

"The Ibaka pick-and-rolls were obviously giving us fits, so we went to a smaller, switching lineup during his normal stint,’’ said Stevens.

Entering Game 5, Williams had hit 14-of-16 shots against the Raptors and was averaging 4.6 points and four rebounds in 12.4 minutes.

jfenton@enterprisenews.com

On Twitter at @JFenton_ent