For the Celtics, this offseason wasn’t about touchdown a giant free agent or swinging for the fences on a commerce. The champs are, for essentially the most half, working it again. The identical squad that hoisted the Larry O’Brien three weeks in the past and can elevate Banner 18 on Opening Evening.
Nonetheless, for second spherical decide and newcomer Anton Watson, getting drafted and coming to the Celtics means becoming a member of that storied tradition.
“Winners. The legacy. Simply the mentality in direction of all the pieces,” Watson mentioned at his first media availability on Monday. “First time we met in [The Auerbach Center], they mentioned it’s completely different right here. That’s type of the vibe you get right here. I believe they received the proper method on issues.”
He continued, “If you stroll round, you see all of the trophies. The trophy was on heart courtroom. It simply reveals what it takes to be right here.”
Watson was chosen at #54 out of Gonzaga College after spending 5 seasons in Spokane. He was voted All-Convention First Group final 12 months, averaging 14.5 factors on 57.8% taking pictures and seven.1 rebounds.
It’s nonetheless unclear whether or not Watson will be part of the staff on a two-way contract or simply spend the 12 months in Maine with the G-League affiliate, however his presence in Boston nearly appears fated regardless of the lengthy street to get right here.
“The Celtics had been truly my first exercise out of the sixteen I did. It was so much. Coming right here, you don’t know what to anticipate [with] the primary exercise. I believed I did a superb job. I shot it properly, performed properly, however received injured on the G League mix,” Watson mentioned. “I needed to come again and do much more exercises. These exercises began to select up in direction of the top. I didn’t actually know what was going to occur on Draft Evening. I knew the Celtics appreciated me. Brad Stevens gave me the decision and it was the perfect day of my life.”
Watson is considerably undersized as a giant man at 6’7, 241 kilos, however in faculty, he proved to be a stable defender, rebounder, and perhaps most significantly, a ground spacer. Sound acquainted?
“Taking pictures is clearly a giant piece. Type of like that Al Horford function. He’s an important shooter. I believe studying from him goes to be large for me and truly all of the veterans on this staff,” Watson mentioned of his sport and the way it would possibly translate to the NBA. “Taking pictures goes to be large and simply my protection, utilizing that to my strengths and popping out and guarding each single sport. That’s going to be large for me. Yeah, taking pictures goes to open up my offensive skill, however protection is the place I’m sturdy at.”
Celtics rookies Anton Watson and Baylor Scheierman, together with Leon Powe, are right here at The Shamrock Basis’s basketball clinic in Roxbury. pic.twitter.com/rLlKi04Kcf
— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) July 8, 2024
After the draft, Horford, together with Derrick White and Jayson Tatum, despatched him a textual content welcoming him to the staff, however he’s been on the entrance workplace’s radar for awhile. Stevens mentioned that he envisions Watson as a “hybrid ahead that may change and guard lots of people…with a mindset that he’s going to let it fly like he’s by no means let it fly earlier than as a result of I believe he’s a greater shooter than he generally thinks he’s.”
Watson hit 22 of his 55 photographs from behind the arc final season and has been engaged on his shot for the reason that finish of the season. “I really feel like I received a superb shot. I simply gotta be extra assured with it. Let it fly in follow and shoot it as a lot as I can.”
