Sam Hauser was bearish on 2023 Boston Celtics second-round draft pick Jordan Walsh's progress down in the G-League with the Maine Celtics -- claiming that the Arkansas product was coming along well and improving.
"Jordan is coming along well,” Hauser said (h/t MassLive). “He’s young, he’s learning, but he’s been playing really well. You can tell he’s got a lot of potential and a lot of talent, so I know he’s working really hard and every time he’s come back here it’s looked like he’s gotten better. So, props to him.
"I think you kind of have to have a balance. Work on the things that you know, like when you come up here, you’re going to have to do, and then also expanding your game as much as you can when you get the opportunity. I think he’s done a good job of that so far, and I think when he does come up here, he’s probably going to be a defender, a spot-shooter and find a role on this team. But down there, you can see what he’s got and what potential he has."
Jordan Walsh could be Boston Celtics bench savior if no big moves are made by trade deadline
Every Celtics fan is sitting on their hands waiting for the next Woj-bomb or Shams-wow announcing a small-scale trade or a free agent signing, but if that never comes, hoping for internal improvement from the young guns is the only way the bench, the only weakness Boston possesses, in the same way Hauser has stepped up this season is the way forward.
Payton Pritchard needs to continue to snap out of his shooting slump, but other than him, there's not much in the way of high-ceiling youth -- and at 25 years old, youth may not even be an apt term for Pritchard -- besides Walsh.
If/when Walsh is moved to the Boston roster full-time and actually finds the floor, he'll be representing Brad Stevens' best draft pick thus far as Celtics President of Basketball Operations. And to an extent, the future of the C's second unit once the cap sheet is completely capped out for massive paydays for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, and perhaps, Jrue Holiday.