Welcome JD Davison!

[libermaniac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfgFGasEIEY&ab_channel=TomaszKordylewski

I made it 3 minutes in without seeing him take a shot outside the paint. 

Looks like a fun guy to watch.  Hope he develops.

Here’s a video where you go over a minute in and all you see is 3 point shots. https://www.google.com/search?q=jd+davison+highlights+youtibe&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a799f4f5,vid:THnjYbe9Gsg,st:0

[liam]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfgFGasEIEY&ab_channel=TomaszKordylewski

I made it 3 minutes in without seeing him take a shot outside the paint. 

Looks like a fun guy to watch.  Hope he develops.

Here’s a video where you go over a minute in and all you see is 3 point shots. https://www.google.com/search?q=jd+davison+highlights+youtibe&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a799f4f5,vid:THnjYbe9Gsg,st:0

The shot looks fine and I bet he can make the wide open ones. I can find a video of the misses...

[liam]

Good read.


https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/is-jd-davison-the-best-point-guard

"Some prospects would still try to crash in too often and force offense in an effort to add to the highlight reel, especially if they’re not given the opportunity to start. Davison plays a team game, and that effort and appreciation for fitting into a specific role speaks volumes to his maturity which is a requirement of leadership at the next level."

[Celtics2021]

Good read.


https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/is-jd-davison-the-best-point-guard

"Some prospects would still try to crash in too often and force offense in an effort to add to the highlight reel, especially if they’re not given the opportunity to start. Davison plays a team game, and that effort and appreciation for fitting into a specific role speaks volumes to his maturity which is a requirement of leadership at the next level."

It was.  That was early in the season for him, but it was also against top competition, and is a good example of his ceiling.  He’s someone I’m willing to wait on for two seasons — my hope is a rotation spot by year 3.

[GreenlyGreeny]

I see this kid being another Ben Bentil/Marcus Thornton type pick that never sees the big league team. He gets here, plays with the team over the summer and into preseason, but never earns a contract.

I hate looking at college stats to assess a player in the draft, but that 28% turnover rate is hard to ignore.

I hope you're wrong. This kid is an elite athlete which those other two aren't. Ja had a 20% turnover rate and averaged 5.6 turnovers per game as a sophomore. I think if JD had stayed in school next year he would be top 20 in the draft. I see him as a steal. I hope I'm right.

This. Probably a first-rounder if he did another year or did not get injured and/or had gone somewhere like Duke/Kentucky/UNC/Villanova instead of staying near home to be in a good, rather than top five, program. Dude was one of the top 10-15 high schoolers merely a year ago. Dude is a diamond in the rough. He’ll be our 14th or 15th man and we’ll see where he’s at in a year or two. We should feel good that we actually might have landed a future rotation player with a late 2nd.

[Celtics2021]

I see this kid being another Ben Bentil/Marcus Thornton type pick that never sees the big league team. He gets here, plays with the team over the summer and into preseason, but never earns a contract.

I hate looking at college stats to assess a player in the draft, but that 28% turnover rate is hard to ignore.

There are two key differences in those picks:

1) Bentil and Thornton were 21 and 22, respectively, on draft night.  Davison is 19, and thus the Celtics are drafting him with an eye on long-term development rather than a guy who has the chance to crack a roster for a couple of seasons.

2) Thornton was the 4th player selected by the Celtics in his draft.  Bentil was in the following draft, the 5th of 6 players selected, and thus one of 10 picks in two seasons.  Davison is the Celtics only pick this year, a season after having had only a 2nd as well.  There’s a lot more room on the back of the roster than there was for Bentil, Thornton, Kadeem Allen, etc.  Davison will get a multi-year deal, guaranteed in year 1.  The question is whether he’ll be signed to two years or more, and that will be determined by whether the C’s are able to get someone with the MLE.

[Goldstar88]

Really good breakdown from an Alabama beat writer regarding JD:


Boston.com spoke with Alabama beat writer Tony Tsoukalas, who covers the team for Sports Illustrated, about Davison’s skill set and potential.

Boston.com: What should Celtics fans know about JD Davison?

Tony Tsoukalas: He’s a guy that’s a top 20 talent in last year’s recruiting class, and a guy I think a lot of people expected to be a lottery pick, but he struggled to find consistency. Really for him, he’s very raw. He excelled at a 2A high school in Alabama, and he was able to overpower games with his athleticism. He’s a truly gifted athlete. He’s probably one of the better athletes in the Draft.

Translating that to the SEC was a challenge. He had a lot of trouble with turnovers, and he needs to work on his ball-handling and decision-making. He’s also not necessarily what I would call a Nate Oats player to a tee. Nate Oats likes his point guards to be more shooters, and JD Davison is a guy who wants to take it to the hole. That’s part of Alabama’s game as well, but he needs to improve his shooting touch. He was one of those guys that really Alabama had to recruit. They had to get him, because he was the best player Alabama has produced in a while as a state. Between the expectations and the transition, he really kind of struggled.

I think he would say that he underperformed for Alabama last year, but I think he’s a kid that has a ton of potential. I don’t know how it’s going to translate to the NBA. You see a lot of these kids that are super great and are raw that never really put it together, but as far as athletic ability, and the gifts that he has, getting him at No. 53 in the second round is an absolute steal. For a team that didn’t have a first-round pick, I think the Celtics knocked it out of the park. They got a first-round talent.

BDC: Do you envision him playing point guard or shooting guard in the NBA, or a little bit of both?

TT: I see him as a point guard. He’s a gifted passer. It’s more the decision-making. He had a lot of those freshman struggles where he would make freshman mistakes. As far as being a ball-distributor, and even a ball-handler, I think he’s a capable point guard. It’s really just a matter of having him grow. I think he’s somebody that’s going to have to go up to Maine and play, and we’ll see what he does from there. He could play shooting guard, depending on who you have at the point, but if you’re really trying to get his potential for what he can do, I’d put him at the point.

BDC: Can you think of any NBA comparisons? Anyone he plays similarly to?

TT: When you talk about his dunking ability, and the power in his game, Ja Morant comes to mind. He’s a bigger kid than Ja and is pretty muscular. I think he could be a real menace. He’s almost like Marcus Smart in terms of being an absolute unit. In the past, Alabama has produced point guards like Kira Lewis and Collin Sexton who were more scrawny. JD is not that. He’s a tough guy that can bang bodies in the NBA.

BDC: Does he have the potential to become an elite defender?

TT: I think he could. Marcus Smart wasn’t a one-and-done player in college. Alabama fans are upset about this, but I think Davison would have benefited from that second year. I think you could see him making a step like Smart did in his second year. He has all the abilities to play defense. Marcus Smart is the Defensive Player of the Year, so comparing him to that might be a stretch, but he has the abilities and the athleticism to be a top defender. Keeping with the Marcus Smart comparison, I think once he develops his offensive game, Marcus Smart was a more polished offensive player coming out of college than JD is, but I think it’s there. I don’t hate the comparison in terms of the amount of athleticism. 

BDC: He seems like a confident guy who plays with a lot of swagger. Do you think he’ll be able to stay patient in the NBA and understand he may not log heavy minutes right away?

TT: There was never an issue on the team, from anything I’ve heard, about his ability to fit in. He had Jahvon Quinerly with him at that point guard position, so he only started six games. He was a guy that Alabama used off the bench. Now, he averaged 25.8 minutes, so you would almost call him a starter, but the fact that he was willing to come off the bench, there was never a problem with JD. He never pouted. For being a five-star kid, there was never any discontent with his role. I think he’s a really solid kid. Just talking to him, he always came across as confident but polite and like he had a really good head on his shoulders.

BDC: Anything else fans should know?

TT: I think the big thing for him is tapping into that potential. I knew he was going to slip, but it’s crazy that he slipped to 53. I guess that’s around what we were seeing heading into the Draft, but he really is a talented kid. It will be interesting to see what he can do. I know it happens a lot that the talent doesn’t really transfer over, but I think he could be something.

[libermaniac]

Seems like he easily has the potential to be like a Terry Rozier.

[hwangjini_1]

Seems like he easily has the potential to be like a Terry Rozier.

not offensively i think, but better defensively from what i am reading. this is going to be an interesting player to watch and see whether or not he can reach his potential.

a fun pick. 

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I think he will impress early with his play-making and passing. His shooting will be tough and I think he will get lost a lot defensively.

Hopefully he can play aggressive and stir the offense in summer league.

[liam]

I think he will impress early with his play-making and passing. His shooting will be tough and I think he will get lost a lot defensively.

Hopefully he can play aggressive and stir the offense in summer league.

He's the exact kind of player that should kill in summer league. Quick Guards always dominate the summer league. I also think he'll fit into the NBA well as the spacing is better than in college. He does need to improve his shot selection and his decision making.

[gouki88]

I see this kid being another Ben Bentil/Marcus Thornton type pick that never sees the big league team. He gets here, plays with the team over the summer and into preseason, but never earns a contract.

I hate looking at college stats to assess a player in the draft, but that 28% turnover rate is hard to ignore.

I hope you're wrong. This kid is an elite athlete which those other two aren't. Ja had a 20% turnover rate and averaged 5.6 turnovers per game as a sophomore. I think if JD had stayed in school next year he would be top 20 in the draft. I see him as a steal. I hope I'm right.

I’m pretty sure the two players mentioned above weren’t 5 star recruits and top 10 players in the country for their recruiting class. Pretty random/baseless comparison.

Romeo Langford was a 5 star recruit. So was James Young. Sure glad we picked those guys

[liam]

I see this kid being another Ben Bentil/Marcus Thornton type pick that never sees the big league team. He gets here, plays with the team over the summer and into preseason, but never earns a contract.

I hate looking at college stats to assess a player in the draft, but that 28% turnover rate is hard to ignore.

I hope you're wrong. This kid is an elite athlete which those other two aren't. Ja had a 20% turnover rate and averaged 5.6 turnovers per game as a sophomore. I think if JD had stayed in school next year he would be top 20 in the draft. I see him as a steal. I hope I'm right.

I’m pretty sure the two players mentioned above weren’t 5 star recruits and top 10 players in the country for their recruiting class. Pretty random/baseless comparison.

Romeo Langford was a 5 star recruit. So was James Young. Sure glad we picked those guys

JD Davison is much more athletic than either of those guys. No guarantee of success for him either. It will depend on work and effort. Young and Romeo didn't play or work like their NBA lives depended on it. JD Davision has a better chance of being an NBA player if he works like it does.

[libermaniac]

Seems like he easily has the potential to be like a Terry Rozier.

not offensively i think, but better defensively from what i am reading. this is going to be an interesting player to watch and see whether or not he can reach his potential.

a fun pick. 

Rozier was a really bad shooter his first few years with Boston. I don’t know why Davison can’t be equal or better offensively. He’s equally, or more, athletic and taller than Rozier. So, he should be a better finisher.

I’ll form my opinion after summer league, but I’m optimistic now.

[Celtics2021]

I see this kid being another Ben Bentil/Marcus Thornton type pick that never sees the big league team. He gets here, plays with the team over the summer and into preseason, but never earns a contract.

I hate looking at college stats to assess a player in the draft, but that 28% turnover rate is hard to ignore.

I hope you're wrong. This kid is an elite athlete which those other two aren't. Ja had a 20% turnover rate and averaged 5.6 turnovers per game as a sophomore. I think if JD had stayed in school next year he would be top 20 in the draft. I see him as a steal. I hope I'm right.

I’m pretty sure the two players mentioned above weren’t 5 star recruits and top 10 players in the country for their recruiting class. Pretty random/baseless comparison.

Romeo Langford was a 5 star recruit. So was James Young. Sure glad we picked those guys

So were Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart.

Obviously the most defining aspect of a draftees future status is when he was picked.  And in that sense, being #53 overall, Davison is pretty unlikely to do much of anything at the NBA level, same as any other alternative pick.  But if I’m picking someone at #53, I’d prefer the one-and-done consensus top-15 recruit over a 4-year guy who’s indistinguishable from half of the G-League.

Will Davison make it?  Probably not.  Could he be a useful player for several years if he does?  Absolutely yes.