They also probably knew the Mav's preference and had a choice to send another asset to jump them or move back and take one of their other preferences and bag at least one more asset. On balance, they went for the latter. The subsequent trades were probably a little surprising but added to the asset haul.
Pick #38- Jordan Walsh
- Thread starter Cellar-Door
- Start date
I like it because I feel like the path to him being NBA ready defensively seems very short, so in that regard seems almost like a low floor type to some degree. There were other players drafted around him that seemed riskier as all players in the 2nd round have significant flaws and a low likelihood of eventual success.
Heck, is he that far away from being a slightly shorter version of current Ben Simmons?
Heck, is he that far away from being a slightly shorter version of current Ben Simmons?
He needs to be more reluctant to shoot.I like it because I feel like the path to him being NBA ready defensively seems very short, so in that regard seems almost like a low floor type to some degree. There were other players drafted around him that seemed riskier as all players in the 2nd round have significant flaws and a low likelihood of eventual success.
Heck, is he that far away from being a slightly shorter version of current Ben Simmons?
I wouldn't read too much into it. Sounded to me like he had a single source and put trust into that source. The C's worked him out but they worked out a bunch of guys, and Stevens isn't one to let anything leak from his camp.
In the same pod Woo said Sac would have kept the pick had Murray been there, so even if it were true the Celts liked Prosper a bit, might have been more circumstantial than anything that the Mavs jumped them.
Prosper is interesting because of his insane length but he wasn't even a first round target before he started working out for teams. Everything about him is projectable based on his size, athleticism, decent three point stroke (only showed this in year three), and switchability on D but there wasn't anything that jumped off the page about him during his three years in college, even defensively (especially compared to Walsh's single season). Also, he has pretty much zero chance to be a tertiary playmaker and Walsh has some ability there.
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Saw this interesting article that discusses Walsh's prospect stock from the beginning of the college year until the draft. It also has quotes from anonymous scouts.
Basically, Walsh was a super highly ranked recruit who was thought to be a pretty sure 1st round draft pick but his stock took a hit in January due to lack of his offense.
Basically, Walsh was a super highly ranked recruit who was thought to be a pretty sure 1st round draft pick but his stock took a hit in January due to lack of his offense.
Arkansas looked to be a promising environment for Walsh to thrive in, but they went through a bit of adversity. Trevon Brazile suffered a season-ending injury in early December. Nick Smith Jr. started the season off with injury concerns, and played sparingly at the beginning of Arkansas’ season. Ricky Council IV, a transfer from Wichita State, would emerge as the de facto scoring leader on this team, while Anthony Black would be looked at as the initiator.
With a lack of floor spacing, the already offensively-limited Walsh would see his stock take a precipitous fall. In what appeared to be a unanimous decision, the draft outlets of the world seemingly got together and declared that Jordan would be the 42nd-ranked prospect by early January.
View: https://youtu.be/gERSqX012Sw
Walsh discussion starts at 7 min mark. Frazier makes a prophetic call...
Walsh discussion starts at 7 min mark. Frazier makes a prophetic call...
High floor?I like it because I feel like the path to him being NBA ready defensively seems very short, so in that regard seems almost like a low floor type to some degree. There were other players drafted around him that seemed riskier as all players in the 2nd round have significant flaws and a low likelihood of eventual success.
Heck, is he that far away from being a slightly shorter version of current Ben Simmons?
That would be a great outcome. He seems a little springier than Battier. Hard to tell if the shot and bball IQ match up.
He has a good motor and I like that he already knows he's here to do Tommy Points stuff.
View: https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1673398291432611847
Jordan Walsh said he heard Boston loves guys that dive on the floor more than guys that dunk: “That guy’s going to be me.”
View: https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1673398291432611847
Jordan Walsh said he heard Boston loves guys that dive on the floor more than guys that dunk: “That guy’s going to be me.”
Here's the complete press conference. The above quote is around 6:25.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od77DS84yxY
Celtics’ Instagram just had a video snippet of Jordan Walsh benching. It looks like he was struggling with 155 pounds. Sometimes I forget how young these draft picks are. The kid is a skinny 19 years old with really long arms. When his strength gets there, he’s going to be a beast defensively.
Probably could use the Perk redshirt to get his body ready but hope we get to see a little of him this year.
Didn't hold back Durant that he couldn't do 1 rep of 185. Just about every 19yo hooper needs to get stronger to compete in the NBA. That's one downside from not getting 21/22yos with four years of college coaching. But it's pretty much everyone now.
good thing there is no scenario where a bench press type motion helps in basketball
whenever they show Julius Randle chasing an offensive rebound, on instant replay, I swear he just
I saw that post, to me it looked like the last rep of the set. Given he weighed 204 at the combine, I don’t think functional strength is an issue.
View: https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1677055082242908160
Signed to 3+1 on the 2nd round exception
Signed to 3+1 on the 2nd round exception
That was a quick contract. A product of the new CBA? The last rookie I recall that got a multiyear deal this fast was Carsen Edwards, after hitting something like 8 3-pointers in a summer league game, back when Danny was dreaming on his Smurf collection.
Edit to clean up a little wording.
Arsen Edwards, that cat was ON FIRE! (for thirty minutes of that one game.. Cool nickname, though!)
The brand spanking new 2nd round exception is either 2+1 or 3+1 (with the +1 being a team option) with a fixed salary scale. Of course, a team could simply not exercise the exception and sign the player to a 2-way contract instead, but I think the Celtics were pretty sold on Walsh from the outset.
Is the second round exception only for current year second round picks, or could JDD get the same benefit?
In general signings are going really quickly, there are already 8 second round picks who have signed 4 or 3 (Rupert) year deals. A couple have gotten 2 way deals
One of the main points of the second round exception is that it does not immediately effect your cap space. Previously, everyone held off on signing second rounders to keep as much cap space as possible open which lead to 2nd round picks frequently playing in summer league without a contract. (This came from Sam Vencenie on a RealGM podcast, I Think.)
Extremely team-friendly contract; I can see why they did this one now:
View: https://twitter.com/keithsmithnba/status/1677457845242167296?s=46
View: https://twitter.com/keithsmithnba/status/1677457845242167296?s=46
Good for him. A little bit of security as he enters JAYS University. He'll learn a lot in practice.
The shooting looked good. Hit contested catch and shoot 3, a step back behind the line 3, another catch and shoot 3, a bit of fadeaway at the FT line, a dunk on the break and then a pull up long 3 in transition. Pretty good mix of shot making.
More importantly, I noticed that Jovic wanted nothing to do with Walsh when Walsh was guarding him.
As someone noted on in one of the threads, he needs to work on skinnying up and ducking his shoulder to get around picks but he's got the physical tools and the attitude to be a really really good defender.
As someone noted on in one of the threads, he needs to work on skinnying up and ducking his shoulder to get around picks but he's got the physical tools and the attitude to be a really really good defender.
I’m excited about him. He looks like he has the potential to be what we wanted Begarin to be. Going to be an absolute menace once he gets NBA weight training for a couple years.
I'm really high on his ceiling and if he can really shoot threes he is going to play in the NBA, but I also thought he had some real bad moments on offense, particularly showing nothing off the dribble, unable to shake defenders and some bad turnovers. If he didn't shoot well from three, he would have had a really poor game. You can see why he has potential, but also why he fell in the draft and struggled to score at Arkansas.
The bright side on his shooting is he shot 20 of 72 from three at Arkansas. That's a small sample size, and he has spoken recently about not being encouraged to shoot threes at Arkansas, and the Celtics are really encouraging to him letting it fly. It's possible he is a better shooter than he showed at Arkansas, his form looks good and he was appropriately aggressive in his first game.
The bright side on his shooting is he shot 20 of 72 from three at Arkansas. That's a small sample size, and he has spoken recently about not being encouraged to shoot threes at Arkansas, and the Celtics are really encouraging to him letting it fly. It's possible he is a better shooter than he showed at Arkansas, his form looks good and he was appropriately aggressive in his first game.
Yes, he looks pretty useless offensively, and mostly focuses on moving the ball along when there is any resistance at all.
If he can shoot, the Celtics could be an ok place for him, and he wouldn't be the first guy in the league to have an OK 3-ball but struggle when he's run off the line. Definitely lowers his ceiling and floor though.
Walsh and Villanueva are close because of their connection to both basketball and having alopecia. In a video of Walsh when he was at a basketball camp, they show him and Villanueva Facetiming. Villanueva also tweeted at Walsh after he was drafted.
There's also a quote in a newspaper article from Walsh regarding how he first heard of CV:
“I saw a couple of videos of him talking about his condition and how it doesn’t change him or make him different,” said Walsh, who was voted to the 4A state all-tournament team. “It gave me self confidence in the beginning. It showed people that I resemble someone in the league and I hope to get where he’s been or even a little higher."
Villanueva, it should be said, was outspoken in his advocacy for alopecia awareness while he was in the NBA, and continues to be a voice in the alopecia community.
So, seeing them together is cool, but shouldn't be regarded as surprising.
He has had his Bambi moments in the first couple of games, but the physical traits and motor are obvious. With his energy and intensity, I expect him to put in the work that's required to contribute to an NBA roster. IMO shooting will determine his ceiling (and putting on a few pounds).
Nice article on Walsh by Weiss in the Athletic. Not exactly going out on a limb here with the conclusion, but lots of good clips highlighting what he's doing pretty well.
Most rookies come to summer league with a little more polish to their game, but Walsh just arrived with even more raw skill to mine. He has a few months before training camp to get it together, but the tools are there for him to make a surprise appearance deep in the second unit if he puts the work in.
https://theathletic.com/4687353/2023/07/13/celtics-jordan-walsh-replace-grant-williams/
Most rookies come to summer league with a little more polish to their game, but Walsh just arrived with even more raw skill to mine. He has a few months before training camp to get it together, but the tools are there for him to make a surprise appearance deep in the second unit if he puts the work in.
https://theathletic.com/4687353/2023/07/13/celtics-jordan-walsh-replace-grant-williams/
I didn't realize Villanueva made it 11 seasons in the NBA, including averaging 16 PPG in only 27 minutes/game in year 4 at age 24. Not as bad as I thought.
For some reason I thought he had a worse career than that, though I guess as 7th pick overall he had higher expectations than Walsh.
For some reason I thought he had a worse career than that, though I guess as 7th pick overall he had higher expectations than Walsh.
It's pretty easy to go missing on the second units of lottery teams in Milwaukee and Detroit for the large majority of your career.
