If you haven't flipped your television on to the Maine Celtics games this season, I would suggest starting soon. While the boys down in Boston are doing their thing, you can begin to see part of the Celts' future mold itself in southern Maine.
No. 27 in green and white has only competed in 12 G-League contests. Yet, he is already generating the kind of noise that was produced from his NBA2K Summer League display. Though the Maine Celtics are on the outside looking in when it comes to the G-League Winter Showcase, Jordan Walsh, the ex-Arkansas wing has put his foot down on why Joe Mazzulla should be calling his name more often to Boston.
Sure, its not going to be a seamless transition, but that's how players learn. In the association's rules, two-way players are only permitted to compete in 50 games. The Celts have a stretch at the end of December where they encounter Detroit, Toronto, and San Antonio all in a row. Two of those ball clubs are dead last in their respective conferences as of the time of writing.
If Mazzulla wants to see what this kid has, that stretch may provide an opportunity. The last thing this franchise wants to do is throw him into the fire before he's ready to take it all on.
The Texas native has shown off his athleticism on both ends, generating turnovers with his quick hands. Offensively, he cuts with purpose to provide J.D. Davison an option down the lane. In the most recent contest against Toronto's affiliate, ex-five-star Walsh amassed his second successive game with 20 or more points while finishing tied for the team lead in offensive rebounds. With Luke Kornet on the call, the ex-five-star recruit lit it up in the first half. Whenever he touched the ball, it was clearly exuding heat. On both ends, the 905 felt it.
One play in particular summed up his performance. Midway through the second quarter, Walsh got back in transition, and stole the ball Darryl Morsell with relative ease. He then proceeded to jumpstart a fast break of his own, gliding from coast to coast before fighting through contact for a tough right-handed layup. Even Kornet in the broadcast booth recognized the brilliance.
J.D. Davison dishes the BEHIND-THE-BACK pass ➡️ Jordan Walsh for this slam! 😳 @MaineCeltics pic.twitter.com/s4xjlgOrDD
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 8, 2023
He's frankly an effort machine. A floor general's dream to play with. No. 27 has shown no fear driving the ball into the trees inside the paint. Sure, scoring over 17 points on five occasions is nice, but it is more about the different ways he impacts games.
Arguably his most impressive performance of the campaign so far was north of the United States' border. The ex-Razorback piled up an astounding four steals, five assists, and 21 points on 8-15 shooting from the field. If you tuned into Walsh's games and knew nothing about him prior, the only indication that he is 19 would be his stature.
One needs quite a long time to shuffle through all the hustle plays that the youngster has been able to produce this season. Even in the G-League, No. 27 in green is by no means the focus of the offense. He knows his task is to find open space, and create an outlet for the creators on the perimeter.
Jordan Walsh is not just an ordinary second round selection, the 19-year-old can be a real contributor at the professional level
The current C's leader expressed the fact that he is working closely with the coaches up in Portland to get Walsh where he needs to be.
“We get an email after every game. Craig , our guy who works with our player development, and Blaine are in constant communication and then we have constant development checklist of what's important to us, where we want him to be at the end of the season, where we want him to be in a year from now."
You can clearly see the things he needs to work on. The same parts of his game that allowed him to drop into the second round. His shooting has been inconsistent in addition to having the tendency of getting into foul trouble. Walsh has collected five personal fouls four times already this season. While competing in Maine the rest of the campaign will serve him well, the rookie wing is certainly already showing the signs the franchise hoped he would.