The Celtics chosen Gonzaga ahead Anton Watson with the 54th choose within the 2024 NBA Draft. This was their second and last choice.
The 23-year-old Watson performed 5 years of school basketball at Gonzaga, after additionally attending Gonzaga Prep. He was the Eleventh-ranked small ahead within the nation in 2019, and a consensus 4-Star recruit.
The 6’8” Watson performed 151 video games in faculty, beginning in each recreation he performed his last two years. The 2023-2024 season proved to be his finest total marketing campaign, averaging 14.5 points-per-game on simply over 41 p.c from past the arc. Nevertheless, he shot solely 30.7 p.c from three in his faculty profession and a poor 62.7 p.c from the free throw line.
Pre-draft, Watson was hailed as a plus defender with NBA traits. In his “shades of…” part, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor mentioned Watson has qualities of “Outdated Al Horford,” a participant the Celtics have grown to worth lately. Nevertheless, Watson’s burst and switchability are questionable for a contemporary NBA ahead. Whereas he had some success guarding bigger bigs corresponding to Purdue’s Zach Edey, it’s unclear if that success will translate to the NBA.
In any case, it’s unlikely Watson will play a lot or in any respect within the 2024-25 NBA season, with the Celtics roster nonetheless stacked with topflight expertise coming off the franchise’s 18th Championship, one thing President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has acknowledged brazenly.
The Celtics as soon as once more focused a tall, bodily wing with defensive traits and taking pictures flashes and/or upside. First Spherical choose Baylor Scheierman is an elite shooter with actual measurement that would result in defensive development, and final 12 months’s Second Spherical choose Jordan Walsh possesses lots of the identical traits and limitations as Watson: taking pictures flashes however a scarcity of offensive creativity or consistency paired with actual defensive skills.
The Celtics will seemingly have all three spend vital time with the Maine Celtics to see how their three-and-D qualities develop earlier than deciding which — if any — may crack the common rotation.
