Celtics select guard JD Davison with 53rd pick, and other draft highlights

The NBA Draft was held Thursday night, and the Celtics stayed quiet. They had the 53rd overall pick and selected Alabama freshman point guard JD Davison, but despite some rumors, they did nothing else. 

Davison is a smaller guard at 6’3”, but his athleticism is off the charts. He’s a downhill driver who got nearly half his shots at the rim. Aside from that, the rest of his game needs work.

"Very young, very explosive, that's pretty obvious," Brad Stevens said after the draft. "He has the ability to get inside the paint and make plays and has some things that he'll have to improve on, but has a lot of physical tools. A good competitor."

Davison, who didn't participate in any predraft workouts for the Celtics, is only 19 years old, and if he’s willing to put in the work, there's a chance to find an NBA player under all that raw material. 

"He’s 12 months removed from high school graduation, right? So he’s played one year of college basketball at a very high level on a good team, and with guys that were there who were good playmakers in their own right," Stevens said. "He had some incredible games, and he had some games where he looked like a freshman. So he has consistently competed, consistently carried himself well on the court. ...

"We do think he has a good feel as far as getting the ball out of his hands quickly and finding the right people, especially on spot-ups. He’s very unselfish in that regard. But there are things he has to improve, as any 19-year-old would be. But we’re looking forward to helping him do that. That’s our task."

The Celtics are very well aware that Davison is not going to be an immediate impact guy at that pick. Stevens said the team expected the longer-term project. 

"We're in a position roster-wise where we can focus on the development of a young player, too. I think that's important," Stevens said, "He's not going to have a ton of pressure to come in and impact us right away or move the needle for us right away. He'll be able to compete for minutes just like anybody else. At the same time, he can grow, develop, focus his attention on improving. I think that's really an important place to be for a young player. We got a really good team. He'll be able to put some heat on us with his speed on both ends of the floor that I'm looking forward to."

Davison is expected to be in Boston soon to prepare for the upcoming summer league in Las Vegas. 

The Celtics did explore moving up in the draft, but Stevens says it didn't make sense to make that kind of move.  

“The costs for moving up was just too, too much for where we are," he said. "And whether that was into the 20s or even the 30s or even the low 40s ... parting with significant players on our team or parting with draft assets that you can use with these TPEs with the trade deadline and those types of things didn't make much sense.”

So all in all, a quiet night for the Celtics, but a few things happened that were interesting and will impact the Celtics from a competition standpoint. 

WHAT ARE THE KNICKS DOING?

Here’s a nice summary of the Knicks night:

The feeling here is that New York is clearing space for Jalen Brunson. They're expected to heavily pursue Brunson once free agency opens, and the hope is that pairing him with Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett can make the Knicks a big-time offensive threat. 

Kemba Walker, meanwhile, is likely getting bought out by the Pistons. We’ll see what kind of market there is for him. I doubt Boston makes a run at him. 

WATCH OUT FOR DETROIT

I’m expecting Killian Hayes to be expendable after this draft, but being able to get Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren basically in exchange for Jerami Grant (they used the pick acquired in the Grant trade) solidifies their future and now gives them a really interesting core moving forward. 

Celtics fans know the Pistons were a pain in the butt this season, and now they're adding talent to a culture being built around Cade Cunningham. They have a lot of talent, and even though some of it will need to be consolidated at some point, they have a chance now to figure out which pieces will stay and which will go. 

CHARLOTTE GETS THEIR BIG

If they can develop him properly, Mark Williams has a chance to flourish as a shot-blocking, floor-running, lob-catching big next LaMelo Ball. 

We have to keep a close eye on how the Hornets operate this summer. They are weighing how much to pay Miles Bridges, and we’ll have to see how much this costs them player-wise. Their personnel moves this summer will be interesting as we wait to see if the Hornets can rise to playoff nuisance next season. 

SIXERS GET BENCH HELP

They traded the 23rd pick and Danny Green (who is likely out for the season with an ACL tear) for DeAnthony Melton from Memphis. The Sixers add some scoring in Melton (10.8 ppg last season) and shooting (50.4% efg) in Melton, who can also do a little bit of everything (4.5 reb, 2.7 ast, 1.4 steal). 

Sixers are another team to watch this summer. They could be pretty active.