Four years ago, the Celtics needed some help on the field, just someone with strength and tenacity who could play 15 minutes a night. Grant Williams was just a 20-year-old rookie who couldn’t shoot, but Brad Stevens gave him a chance anyway.
Williams ended up breaking a turnover off a jump and appeared in every playoff game as a starter in the Celtics’ bubblegum series that ended in a game seven defeat to the Heat. He would eventually become a key defender and lead defenseman against some of the league’s biggest stars in the heat of the postseason. But then last season, he fell out of Joe Mazzola’s rotation and didn’t cement his place in the lineup until the final, yet another loss in the Game 7 Conference Finals to the Heat.
This time, it was his last game for Celtic, with Williams completing his signing and trade against Dallas Wednesday. Signed Oshae Brissett on a minimum deal to replace him, he is a spirited young vet and an unreliable shot. But the Celtics also drafted Jordan Walsh, who found himself entering the NBA in a similar situation to Williams.
When Williams arrived, he was competing against Semi Ojeleye for the backup forward minutes. Ojeleye was a brick wall defender who could emerge from the corner with mediocre results. He shot better than Williams at the time, but there was an ironic quip in his game that didn’t take advantage of the massive build Celtics fans called the “Ughelli Factory.” Williams’ confidence, tenacity and versatility soon made him the eighth man on the team.
Can Walsh go down that road as a rookie?
His summer league performances hinted that there is a reasonable role for him at some point this season, although it will take a lot of improvement to get there. The vital twist is that it’s up to three points open, showing some confidence in an easy look at it.
He doesn’t have much of a touch yet, but he doesn’t seem afraid to shoot far from the hunt. His best shot of the opening weekend came with a quick handoff from JD Davison, where Walsh immediately fired the shot with a bit of space and slotted home. This was the most comfortable he seemed to get 3 of all year.
When Washington pulled him off the line in Game Two, he hit the mid-range with plenty of space and didn’t fall into the trap of making an awkward pull. He had one great pass from the back into the corner after luring the co-defender to open that shot, then in the fourth quarter caught Udoka Uzubuike shining under the hoop and quickly passed a shot to cash him in.
Walsh’s rookie wall would tackle defenses who knew scouts report on him. He’s just driving at this point, using a crossover and moving at the top of the drive so he can lower his shoulder to the defender and try to pull out of range of the float through contact.
His size wasn’t much of an advantage in the NBA anymore and he didn’t have a lot of rhythm in getting those shots, so he would fumble or fumble against Summer League players. Every year, fans forget how dramatic the quality of defense can be from summer league to preseason to regular season, so don’t expect him to score through defensemen anytime soon.
There have been a few times when he’s tried to cut a gap and the defense has been able to swerve, but he’s got a drive high enough to keep moving to keep the play alive. There were also several moments when he tried to drive around the defender at the point of attack, but he wasn’t fast enough to hit that hole. He’s a keen passer on the go, but a lot of his back-up attempts have been lead shot passes to the seniors from close range that went through their hands or passes across the field that the defense easily read before the ball was out of his hand. The fact that he’s willing to give it so much in an effort to grow as a playmaker is honestly a good sign from someone expected for a 3D role.
Then even when he rips or crossovers to attack space, he’s having trouble finishing. There have been several plays where he has tried to put the tire guard on his body to finish through contact, but has come up short or not received the foul call he expected. But the upside is that when he can reach with his right hand and attack from the left side, his strength and height allow him to make a clean look at the edge. Just look how different it is when he attacks the middle of the floor instead of the baseline.
He’s an enthusiastic passer and constantly moves around in possession, so he won’t be deadlocked in corners. This will be important as he has been cornered several times and struggled to get out of it, though he does show some patience to keep his evasiveness alive and slip through the trap when he sees an opening.
But the Celtics drafted him to defend him, as he can stretch tremendously long as a winger and even guard a bit against a quadruple. Boston would sometimes put him on the point guard and have him press the entire field, then switch when the guard handed the ball to a corner cutter. These are tricky switches to make since you have to completely change direction against someone running at you, but Walsh seems like he can handle those readings.
The tricky part comes when it comes time to chase the bouncers on the screens, because Walsh loves getting up on the ball coaches and locking them up. He defends like the elder Derrick White, trying to squeeze the ball into the perimeter and then stay tucked in with his hip to drive without fouling. This is a tough adjustment in the NBA where every ball-handling player is a more adept scorer than anyone you’ve ever guarded. Walsh is similar to Williams in this respect, as they are two players who want to defend with their hands forward and then hit their chests at the point of contact. He gets six fouls a night and he should probably use them.
The upside with Walsh is that he can take risks and still recover. Just watch how he tries to play a peek-a-boo at the top of the transition zone, misses an interception, and then recovers to close out the drive.
Not only does he knock the dribbler into place to stop the drive, but he then manages to jump around the sorter to stay with the ball and force a foul. Although his position is broken in much of his assistance coverage and he doesn’t know how to get past the screens in the perimeter yet, he has a natural sense of how to climb above the driver without crashing into them. The problem will be that a lot of players can handle his size much faster than he used to.
This was one of his best traits in college, as he could essentially hover over the ball carrier with his hand on the ball and then pull out to avoid contact when they tried to draw a foul. Just watch how he can jump backwards against this spinning motion and then raise his hands straight up in the air without any contact.
There’s a lot to like about Walsh’s game so far, but the team drafted him knowing that it would likely be a few years before he was ready for serious minutes. However, he can provide the defensive and movement skills they need at third/fourth with Grant Williams departing and may be able to bring something different from Brissett.
Most rookies come to the summer league with more polish in their game, but Walsh just arrived with more raw skill to me. He has a few months before boot camp to get it all together, but the tools are there for him to show a surprise in depth in the second unit if he puts the work in.
(Photo: Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
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