Welcome to Boston, Jordan Walsh!

[Bad-Thoma]

Scottie Pippen without the offense. lol

Yeah, you don't want him dribbling much any time soon, but cutting, making quick passes, etc should hopefully be in his wheelhouse. Then just shoot halfway almost decent enough to play more than Thybulle is the goal, lol.

I got some Thybulle vibes from that video, though even rougher offensively. That motor and his court vision makes me think he will be coachable though, feels like a pretty solid pick from Brad.

[Hal14]

He's 19 and 2.01m? He wont grow. Dont know why people say he is lengthy. He is at a SF size at best - very similar to Jaylen brown but with longer hands i think ? He probably would be at a disadvantage is he was to play at PF.

looks like a dog defensively though which is a plus but he will need the Yiannis special to bulk up so he isnt outmuscled by SFs and PFs in the NBA. I'm guessing his shooting wont go from sub 0.3 to 0.37 for him to become a reliable space and pace player at SG.

Overall his videos look promising. He plays bigger than he is [i thought he was closer to Yiannis size rather than Jaylen] whixh is always a plus.

Maybe we stick him next to houser and one can teach the othet how to shoot and how to defend

Only seven center and two PF prospects (and the French SF Rayan Rupert) had a bigger wingspan than his 7'1.75" in the draft.

They think he has the lateral speed to keep up with PGs while also having the length and bulk to guard PFs.

Yup. Here he is defending a quick, skilled guard, Keyonte George - Baylor's best player, who went 16th pick last night:

Read on Twitter

[Celts17Pride]

I mean the good thing about Walsh is a young player gets on the floor and playing time based on how he plays defense. A young player stays on the floor because of offense. (Just think Nesmith)

Walsh has a chance to get some playing time because he excels on defense.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

[Hal14]

I wanted Prosper and Nnaji — can get sufficient enthusiasm for this guy and four future seconds instead.

Walsh is similar to Prosper in terms of their size, athleticism and ability to really get after it defensively, both with really high motor, both can really get out in transition, push the pace, turn defense to offense.

Prosper is a slightly better shooter. They're both a little bit limited in terms of handling the ball in the open floor and driving it to the basket - but both show some intriguing flashes in that aspect.

But I had Walsh ranked slightly ahead of Prosper because:

-Prosper had a historically low blocks rate for a forward. Dude is 6'8", played PF in college yet only played 12 total blocked shots in 3 college seasons
-Prosper also had a historically low assist %. This season his assist % was 3.9. 3.9! Man, that is insanely low. I don't know if I've ever even seen an assist % that low before. And he was on a really good team, with a bunch of dudes who could score.
-Walsh is over 2 years younger

[return2glory]

Scottie Pippen without the offense. lol

Without eyebrows.

Have a little more class than that. It's a medical condition.

[BK_2020]

Scottie Pippen without the offense. lol

Without eyebrows.

Have a little more class than that. It's a medical condition.

Yeah I didn't realize that until someone mentioned it later either in this thread or elsewhere. It's my L.

[hugepatsfan]

My realistic hope for him is that he can defend and cut to the basket well enough to be a 10th man type in the regular season. Grow over time to where by next year he can give you a “doesn’t kill you” 10-15 minutes per game off the bench. And then come playoff time, he gets dropped from the shortened rotation.

That’s not sexy. Everyone prefers the guy in the late 1st early 2nd who defies to the odds to become a key reserve, a starter or even a star. It’d be great if he did, but even just someone who can play 10-15 minutes/night is good value for a pick in that range. Most of these guys end up sucking and are total nothings.

[165bows]

He's 19 and 2.01m? He wont grow. Dont know why people say he is lengthy. He is at a SF size at best - very similar to Jaylen brown but with longer hands i think ? He probably would be at a disadvantage is he was to play at PF.

looks like a dog defensively though which is a plus but he will need the Yiannis special to bulk up so he isnt outmuscled by SFs and PFs in the NBA. I'm guessing his shooting wont go from sub 0.3 to 0.37 for him to become a reliable space and pace player at SG.

Overall his videos look promising. He plays bigger than he is [i thought he was closer to Yiannis size rather than Jaylen] whixh is always a plus.

Maybe we stick him next to houser and one can teach the othet how to shoot and how to defend

Only seven center and two PF prospects (and the French SF Rayan Rupert) had a bigger wingspan than his 7'1.75" in the draft.

They think he has the lateral speed to keep up with PGs while also having the length and bulk to guard PFs.

Yup. Here he is defending a quick, skilled guard, Keyonte George - Baylor's best player, who went 16th pick last night:

Read on Twitter

Ha ate Coleman Hawkins for lunch in that first clip playing defense.

Edit: Seems like a commitment to getting longer this year KP and Walsh. Very long dudes for their positions.

[robbie84]

Dude looks nasty.
At the very least he'll bring some competitiveness to the locker room.

[zoyathedestroya]

After watching 3 minutes of highlights, I've come to the conclusion that he is this generation's Ron Artest. No need to fight me on this.

[165bows]

My realistic hope for him is that he can defend and cut to the basket well enough to be a 10th man type in the regular season. Grow over time to where by next year he can give you a “doesn’t kill you” 10-15 minutes per game off the bench. And then come playoff time, he gets dropped from the shortened rotation.

That’s not sexy. Everyone prefers the guy in the late 1st early 2nd who defies to the odds to become a key reserve, a starter or even a star. It’d be great if he did, but even just someone who can play 10-15 minutes/night is good value for a pick in that range. Most of these guys end up sucking and are total nothings.

Yeah this dude is super young, one of the youngest guys in the draft. Not sure how much he gets out there at all - cool if he does, but this has been Brad's MO up to this point.

Young toolsy guys that can grow and develop over time.

It's come up a bit but I think Brad and the FO idea is use younger vet FAs (eg Hauser/Kornet and the million guys that haven't played) for cheap depth while drafting guys that they are more looking to the second contract with.

[Hal14]

With the Smart for KP trade, we now have 3 high usage guys who can drop 25-30+ points on any given night. None of them are great passers and 2 of them (JB and KP) really don't like to pass much.

So, what we really need more than anything is guys in the supporting cast who can share the rock. Unselfish guys who can move the ball, make quick decisions with the ball (play .5 basketball), find the open man, make the extra pass, create shots for teammates.

That's Walsh.

Very unselfish player.

Was the go-to scorer in HS (for a team that won 3 games in GEICO Nationals to advance to the national championship game) but then went to a college team with lots of other good scorers and veteran players. So he had to adapt. He had to play a very different role than the one he was used to playing. He had to find ways to contribute to winning without having the ball in his hands.

We see some impressive passing ability here at 2:38:

Watch on YouTube

We also need a gritty defender who can guard multiple positions, hound guys out on the perimeter to pressure the opposition take them out of their comfort zone (too often this season, teams were simply to comfortable getting into their offense and running their offense against us, we weren't pressuring the opposing team's offense enough)

We needed a guy with some size, who is a ball mover (not a ball stopper) who can defend, play with some tenacity, and can score a little bit here and there if you leave him open. Walsh checks every one of those boxes. Plus he's young (19 but played basically the entire college season at age 18), strong frame, good athleticism, was a 5 star recruit (ranked top 20 in the country) coming out of HS, has high motor, good work ethic.

Realistically, he probably gets a 2-way contract, plays year 1 in Maine and then hopefully by year 2 is ready to contribute here and there off the bench.

With that being said, it would not shock me at all if this guy ends up getting some meaningful minutes for us this upcoming season - at least later in the season, depending on how quickly he is coming along and how the rest of the roster shakes out. It looks like we'll lose Grant. So as of now, our only wings off the bench are Hauser and Walsh (and maybe Champagnie if we bring him back). I'm assuming we'll make some type of move for a veteran wing off the bench, but either way, there could be a path for Walsh to get some minutes this season. He might not be ready till year 2 though and that's ok.

[Hal14]

After watching 3 minutes of highlights, I've come to the conclusion that he is this generation's Ron Artest. No need to fight me on this.

I mean, it's not a crazy comp.

With comps, sometimes you talk about a high end comp (if the guy reaches their ceiling), a low end comp and a median comp.

Walsh's high end comp probably is Ron Artest (without being such a loose cannon).

[lon3lytoaster]

Happy-ish with the pick. Probably more upset Clowney/Whitehead/Murray all went a few picks before 25. Would have been extremely excited with Walsh and one of Miller or Nnaji but what can ya do.

Mostly contented with his size. A lot of our guys have been tweeners in some way, shape or form. Walsh is a really legit wing size and length wise which is great at least.

[Triple M]

He doesn't really move like Artest and instrad reminds more of a shane Battier. I think he could be the 2nd best perimeter defender on the team already but he is behind the curve offensively by a lot

[Andrew McCeltic]

He's 19 and 2.01m? He wont grow. Dont know why people say he is lengthy. He is at a SF size at best - very similar to Jaylen brown but with longer hands i think ? He probably would be at a disadvantage is he was to play at PF.

looks like a dog defensively though which is a plus but he will need the Yiannis special to bulk up so he isnt outmuscled by SFs and PFs in the NBA. I'm guessing his shooting wont go from sub 0.3 to 0.37 for him to become a reliable space and pace player at SG.

Overall his videos look promising. He plays bigger than he is [i thought he was closer to Yiannis size rather than Jaylen] whixh is always a plus.

Maybe we stick him next to houser and one can teach the othet how to shoot and how to defend

He'll get stronger but he's probably strong enough now to handle most big forwards. Probably not Embiid/Jokic..

Brad says the shot's improving, worked him out twice. I think he can get up to 32 percent minimum, all he needs to get some minutes. And there's nothing wrong with the fundamentals of his shot.

He's 19 and athletic, like a lot of other guys, there's a decent case for upside, but he can be a plus defender from day 1.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

At the draft combine, Walsh measured out with the biggest standing reach and second longest wingspan (at 7'1.75'' jut 0.25'' behind Rupert and nearly 2 inches longer than number 3 Keyontae Johnson) among SFs. Even if we extend the filter to all forwards, he's still 4th in wingspan and 3rd in standing reach (behind two undrafted guys).

He has elite size for his position. He was also above average in the agility drills which certainly backs up what he showed on tape. Now he just needs to sort out his jumper.

We went from Ainge picking small guards that can't shoot to Stevens picking guys with NBA size that can't shoot. Progress.

[cloverleaf]

He's 19 and 2.01m? He wont grow. Dont know why people say he is lengthy. He is at a SF size at best - very similar to Jaylen brown but with longer hands i think ? He probably would be at a disadvantage is he was to play at PF.

looks like a dog defensively though which is a plus but he will need the Yiannis special to bulk up so he isnt outmuscled by SFs and PFs in the NBA. I'm guessing his shooting wont go from sub 0.3 to 0.37 for him to become a reliable space and pace player at SG.

Overall his videos look promising. He plays bigger than he is [i thought he was closer to Yiannis size rather than Jaylen] whixh is always a plus.

Maybe we stick him next to houser and one can teach the othet how to shoot and how to defend

Only seven center and two PF prospects (and the French SF Rayan Rupert) had a bigger wingspan than his 7'1.75" in the draft.

They think he has the lateral speed to keep up with PGs while also having the length and bulk to guard PFs.

Yup. Here he is defending a quick, skilled guard, Keyonte George - Baylor's best player, who went 16th pick last night:

Read on Twitter

Looks like the DWhite style of hassling but then getting behind his man enroute to the basket, before recovering to win with the block from behind.

[Andrew McCeltic]

He doesn't really move like Artest and instrad reminds more of a shane Battier. I think he could be the 2nd best perimeter defender on the team already but he is behind the curve offensively by a lot

Walsh thinks he was held back by his role - and could be a little true for his growth. Arkansas had a lot of scorers ahead of him.

From https://www.bestofarkansassports.com/jordan-walsh-arkansas-basketball-nba-draft-handcuffs/,

Walsh played a very specific role on a team that appeared to be loaded with dynamic scorers before Trevon Brazile went down. He settled into the role of blue-chip blue-collar glue guy, someone who earned his minutes doing all the small things like crashing the boards, playing intense defense and keeping the ball moving on offense.

That’s why, at first blush, Walsh’s next statement to Givony is such a head scratcher: “Once I got out of Arkansas, I’m now in a position where I don’t have handcuffs on me. I’m able to shoot and make plays for people. I have that flexibility to show that I can do all those things. I was stuck in a role, but now they’ll see the real Jordan.”

No question, Walsh played below his offensive potential at Arkansas, but by all impressions that was more due to his skill level vs that of his teammates. Shooting was a concern for Walsh throughout most of his freshman campaign, as he shot just 27.8% (20 of 72) from beyond the arc and frequently passed up open looks. Overall, he shot just 43.3% from the field.