The Summer Celts May Have Dropped Their Opener But Jordan Walsh's Debut Was Even Better Than Imagined

Bart Young. Getty Images.

Alright, first the bad news. If Summer League history tells us anything, it's a fairly safe bet that the Summer Celts losing their opener pretty much ended their dream of capturing the Summer League title. You basically have to go undefeated to make the title game, and seeing as how that did not happen yesterday, that dream might be cooked.

On the plus side, it did feel great to have any sort of Celtics basketball back in our lives. Even if they played like assholes at times and frustrated us in the exact same ways against the exact same team that just sent the real Celts home this past Spring, life is always better when there is actual basketball to watch. Even if the games are fake.

As a reminder with Summer League, you have to force your brain to remember the rules. Anything you see that's positive is 10000% going to translate to the real games and anything that's gross you can completely ignore because these games are fake and they don't mean a thing. I don't make the rules, I just follow them. 

With really only 1 (maybe 2) players on this summer roster that will actually see the NBA floor come the regular season, this is a little bit of a different summer. There are no high lottery picks or first round players, there aren't too many 2nd year guys playing where you're looking for that big jump. It's basically Jordan Walsh and JD Davison, and one of those guys is probably going to be back on another Two Way anyway.

But that doesn't mean we ignore what we saw yesterday. The mental sickness of following every dribble of this team doesn't end just because the roster looks the way it does. We watch, we overreact, and we move onto the next game. 

The Good

- I won't sit here and tell you I knew everything about Jordan Walsh heading into the draft. I just went by what smart people told me and what smart people wrote in his draft evaluations. From what I gathered Brad went out and found a long as shit, high energy layer with great size, great lateral quickness and an amazing mindset. The one question was around his shooting, but the idea if he was a good shooter, but if he would have the confidence and consistency to for that to not be a negative part of his game.

In Summer League, the one thing you're looking for right away is if a player looks like they belong. It's not an exact science, I'd say it's one of those things where you just know it when you see it. Especially if the answer is "no he does not".

Let me ask you, what do you see when you watch this?

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In a Gif…

I think the surprising part of his debut for all of us was the outside shooting. Not just the 4-6 finish, but the types of 3PA he took and the confidence in which he shot them. I did not see a guy who was hesitant to let it fly while being afraid that if he missed he'd get pulled or something. I saw a guy who was aggressive and confident, which in my opinion is way more important than the 4-6. There will be games he goes 4-6 and then another where he goes 1-6. It's the mentality that I care about most. If that's supposed to be one of his weaknesses and this is what it looks like already? That's a good sign.

I was also impressed with his energy on the glass. There were multiple rebounds he had to snag in traffic, and seeing as how he's still going to need to put on NBA muscle, that was good to see as well. The Celts are going to need guys who are active and aren't afraid to get dirty on the glass, and we all know those hustle plays for extra possessions or to clean a strong defensive possession are how rookies find their way onto the court. 

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Now I will say, it's not like this was some incredible debut that blew all of our dicks off. There were definitely some growing pain moments. The defense wasn't as lock down as I maybe anticipated, but you usually see that in the very first game of the summer. Guys will adjust to the speed, feel more comfortable and not have the nerves that I'm sure Walsh had yesterday. There were also a few possessions where he simply couldn't drive past his man, so you do have to keep in mind real NBA defenders are going to be much, much better.

But remember, Walsh isn't here to be an ISO god or create his own shot. He's here to defend, do the little things, and knock down his open threes. When you look at it that way, his debut was about as solid as you could ask for. It's not like he looked like Wemby out there who had never even played the sport before.

- The surprise player of the opener for me though was definitely Jay Scrubb

He definitely looked like a guy that has some actual NBA  experience (24 games) and at 6'5 220lbs, consider me intrigued. It was probably a toss up between him and Walsh of who were the best Celts of the day, and it was hard to not be impressed with his finishing ability. He looked quick, he looked aggressive on defense finishing with 2 STL and 1 BLK to go along with his 17 points on 6-11 shooting. 

If I'm looking around for Two Way spots to fill, nothing I saw yesterday suggets that Scrubb shouldn't be considered for one of them if he wants it. Shit, there were players on the actual roster last year that never even looked this good, so he's someone I'm excited to watch the rest of the time in Vegas. I'm hoping he starts today, because he certainly earned it.

- I didn't know what to make of JD's debut. Given that this is his second time in Vegas, I'm looking for that noticable jump. Remember when Payton Pritchard had to literally be shut down because he was too good? I dunno if I need that from JD, but I need to see a noticeable difference. His size and frame looks bigger, his explosiveness is still awesome, but for long stretches of the game he looked like everyone else….and that's not great.

So why is he in this section? Because of what he did in the 2nd half

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This roster needs playmaking right? Well, 14/4/11/2 will certainly do the trick. He finished 5-14 which wasn't great, but then again he started 1-9 so at least he had a strong finish. Of his 5 TOs, most of them looked like they were due to some communication issues which is to be expected, but I do think JD needs to be better about not forcing a pass just to try and get the assist. It's perfectly OK to look for your floater rather than force a pass in traffic that has a low percentage of working out. If there's any time to work on that stuff, it's in Vegas.

To me, JD's debut didn't really give me the vibes that he's ready for the regular roster just yet, but there's plenty of basketball to still be played. He's still young as shit and honestly I'd prefer he get more run in Maine than just sit on the Celts bench and never play. The potential is there, the passing vision is legit and he's sort of giving off those baby Smart vibes a little bit so I'm intrigued, I just need to see more. 

The Bad

- Let's just talk about the obvious. The Heat are the Celts boogeyman until further notice. I mean we just can't get away from these guys. Watching the Celts have another 4th quarter collapse where they give up a 28-13 4th quarter to lose the game gave me an extreme dose of PTSD. So gross. The annoying part was it happened just like the real team collapsed. No ball movement, gross 3P shooting down the stretch, and the turnovers, my god.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Celts turned it over 20 times against MIA in another loss in which they had a decent lead heading into the fourth quarter. Am I talking about Summer League or every single playoff series these teams have had since 2020? Enough already for the love of fucking christ.

- It was too bad Banton wasn't active. My hope is he plays today, because I want to see this 6'7 PG up close. Same thing with the euro sniper Vincent Valerio-Bodon. Given how I just watched the Celts shoot 3s, I'm interested in this

- It goes without saying that allowing 57 points in a single half of Summer League basketball is very pathetic when it comes to defense. Celts gave up a 37 point quarter in the 2nd quarter which I didn't even know was possible, but also very much trigged me because it made me think back to when the real Celts gave up that 40 burger to the Heat in a single quarter in Game 1 of the ECF.

- Udoka Azubuike might be massive, but I think he might just be too slow. Not just his running speed, but his reactions. I would not classify him as a quick twitch player. Maybe he sticks around in Maine, but I'm not expecting another Kab situation or anything like that. 

The Ugly

- I don't want to be mean, but everything Justin Champagnie did in this game. Well OK maybe that's too harsh. He was very active on the glass with his 11 REB (6 OREB), but that was it. He finished 3-13, he also had 4 TOs and he was a team worst -19 in his 30 minutes. Nothing we saw yesterday toild us that this is a guy who should have a guaranteed spot again this year, and remember his contract isn't fully guaranteed. If someone like Jay Scrubb outplays him, would it shock me if that's a wrap for Champagnie? He did not look like a guy that has actual NBA experience (41 games).

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It's never a great sign when a guy like that looks like the worst player on the floor. Perhaps it was just an off game and he'll bounce back, but I certainly would not assume his contract is going to be picked up.

The good news is we're back again today against the Wizards. What I want to see is if guys like Walsh (and Scrubb) can build off their strong openers because doing it once is cool, but doing it consistently is way, way cooler.