Robb: Tyler Zeller Eager To Earn Bigger Role With Celtics This Season

BOSTON – Based on how the 2015-16 season played out, Tyler Zeller seemed like a long shot to return to the Boston Celtics upon hitting the free agent market last summer. The 26-year-old center played in a career-low 11.8 minutes per game and saw action in just 60 of 82 games as he was regularly the odd man out in a crowded Boston frontcourt.

Once free agency opened on July 1st, the Celtics front office was very preoccupied chasing the likes of Al Horford and Kevin Durant with the team's cap space, forcing role players like Zeller to wait and see how the market played out. Days turned into weeks for the seven-footer as the Celtics weighed their options and waited for decisions from top names. That left an uncertain feeling for the former UNC star as he wondered what was the next step for his career.

"The first week I thought would go pretty quick and then the second week we kind of started to see some things happen," Zeller said late last week of the free agency process while appearing at the Shamrock Foundation Fundraiser in Plymouth. "And after about two weeks I'm sitting there like, 'Nothing has happened. What is going on?' So it eventually did get rolling, but at the same time every day I'd call my agent and there was something different or something new going on and they did a great job of being able to figure it out and get it settled."

Things eventually did get settled on July 23 when Zeller's reps and the Celtics agreed to terms on a two-year, $16 million deal. The contract was similarly structured to recent Boston free agent signees like Jonas Jerebko and Amir Johnson, leaving the second year of the deal unguaranteed. That kind of a contract allows the Celtics a lot of flexibility when examining their free agency options next summer, while giving them to ability to bring back the reserve big man.

In the meantime, with Kelly Olynyk sidelined with a shoulder injury at the start of the seeason and Jared Sullinger out of the picture, Zeller is hoping he spends less time on the bench next season and more minutes as part of Boston's regula rotation. However, with the signing of a big man All-Star in Al Horford, he understands there will be no guarantees about playing time.

"It's kind of the same thing as last year," Zeller acknowledged of his opportunity, "But at the same time we're going into it – I say same thing; same positions as last year but it could obviously change very quickly. You never know what's going to happen. I could play really well. Somebody could get hurt. All those things go into it. And at the same time it could be exactly like last year, so you kind of have to just go into it with an open mind and try to come into the season as prepared as possible to try to compete for one of those spots."

The good news for Zeller is the Celtics did choose him over fellow restricted free agent Jared Sullinger. Danny Ainge rescinded Sullinger's qualifying offer in mid-July while retaining Zeller's restricted rights, which opened the door for a deal a week later.

"It was three or four weeks," explained Zeller of the process. "The first kind of two weeks were a lot of waiting and sitting, a lot of hearsay, a lot of this could happen or this could happen, but nothing really happened. But right about a week before it happened we finally got the ball rolling and were able to negotiate a deal and I'm very excited to be back. It's something I was looking forward to and hoping we could get done."

With the possibility that Zeller could again hit the open market next summer, he's hoping to use last year's roller-coaster experience as a learning opportunity that leads to a big rebound performance in 2016.

"I hope it helps a lot." Zeller said of his inconsistent campaign. "It was a frustrating year for me, but at the same time it was a time where I could work on my game. And I had a lot of time, I didn't know if I was going to play or not, but I was able to work out a lot, be able to put a lot of time in the gym. So hopefully I can continue to grow as a player and be even a better player this year."

Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.