Boston Celtics 2022 NBA Draft: JD Davison a steal at pick No. 53

Not long ago, the Houdini tabbed a piece entitled ‘3 projected second-rounders the Celtics can trade Aaron Nesmith for‘, and, obviously, the aim was to find three players the Boston Celtics could flip the 2020 lottery pick for.

Luckily, JD Davison–the prospect Boston chose with their own second-round selection–ended up being a steal at the No. 53 selection and didn’t require a trade-up in the draft to acquire him anyway.

Davison, as mentioned around these parts before, saw his high school potential unreached under Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats during his lone SEC season in 2021-22. The local product showed flashes of scoring potential but disappeared during key efforts in conference play.

As 247Sports’ dedicated Alabama site noted, Davison was still an SEC All-Freshman team entry and finished the season leading the team with 4.3 assists per game, ranking second in steals with a steal per game, third in rebounding (4.8 RPG) and fourth in scoring (8.5 PPG). While he wasn’t his best in Tuscaloosa, he was still highly efficient. His final effort in a Tide uniform saw him shoot 4/8 from the 3-point line during the NCAA March Madness tournament’s Round of 64 loss to Notre Dame.

JD Davison was a steal in the draft for the Boston Celtics, defying our expectations of the 2022 NBA Draft

Sometimes eating crow is a delicious endeavor. This writer certainly feels that way after watching the Celtics draft someone that can grab minutes during the 2022-23 season instead of taking a second-round stash like they did the past two seasons with Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin.

With rumors of Madar making his way to the Cs this offseason, there is now a legitimate competition for backup point guard minutes — even in Summer League.

Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens nailed this pick, even if JD Davison spends most of the season in Maine. The Alabama product has one of the higher ceilings of any of the players selected with the final 10 picks of this year’s draft, and could have been a first-rounder with better coaching at the collegiate level.