Welcome to Boston, JD Davison! – Appreciation Thread (Waived July 24, 2025)

[jfs1000d]

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This is like watching those games in China when Yabs would score 30+

[jfs1000d]

Does this Kid make it into the rotation; or he a Two-Way?

I think there is a middle to your choices. Non rotational player but signed to our 15 man roster..

My guess is 2 way.. My hope is regular roster but whatever..

Depends on what he wants. If he's willing a two-way, to me, is the best route. Then we can sign him to a 3-year deal at the end of those two years.

[Dogen]

Start at 10:34 to see JD's dunks.

Watch on YouTube

[sam_I_am]

With all due respect yam just seems better fitted for Europe the style he plays is different than what the NBA is about.

I agree, he didn’t look like an NBA caliber player last year in SL.

Ugh, I'm sick of this narrative.

1) he played in 2.5 games last year during summer league. That's way too small of a sample size to base anything off of

2) 1 of those games, he played very well with a number of "NBA caliber" plays and finishing with a higher FG% and higher +/- than Pritchard

3) He wasn't even playing big minutes in those games. 15 mins a game off the bench is nothing - especially when he only played in 2 and a a half games

4) Pritchard was clearly the guy running the show in last year's summer league team. Pritchard was given the keys to the car, because he was in the rotation all year as a rookie, he played in more games his rookie season than anyone else on the team - Madar was unknown so clearly Mazzula focused more of his efforts on Pritchard's development, getting more on ball reps for Pritchard and letting him run the point. Madar would go in, not stay in for very long (not long enough to get in a rhythm) and then get taken out.

5) Madar was playing in a foreign country - literally his first ever time playing in a game on US soil

6) Pritchard, Nesmith, Edwards and Langford with all veterans who had just been through an entire season of NBA practices and games together (2 years playing together for langford and edwards) compared to Madar who literally had never played with these guys ever before so had zero on court or off court chemistry/familiarity built up with them

7) What should we put more weight into when evaluating how good Madar is - 2.5 summer league games where he played 15 mins a game with basically no practice time playing with guys he'd never played with before - or the 151 pro games he played in overseas with teammates he was familar with, teammates who he actually went through a training camp with? Not to mention, the competition he has faced in the overseas pro leagues is comparable to the competition he faced last summer in the summer league. Most of the NBA's better players don't play in summer league - and most of the players who are playing in summer league are fringe NBA guys - it's not a great barometer for evaluating a player - you gotta take it with a grain of salt.

It's not like you can say "oh he was good overseas but then when he faced real competition in summer league he sucked" um, no. The competition he has faced overseas is comparable to summer league competition.

8) The adjustment to the further away 3 pt line in the NBA is going to take longer than 2.5 games. Most rookies have an entire summer league, training camp, preseason games to adjust..

9) The league Madar played in this past season is a more competitive league than the Israeli league he has played in previously. So if Madar did play in SL this year, it's safe to say he would have performed better than last year. This year he's 21 instead of 20 last year - this year he's coming off playing in a more competitive league than he had been playing in before - not to mention that this past season he played for arguably the best coach in all of Europe.

That’s great stuff but it doesn’t change my impression that in his brief stint in SL he didn’t look ready for the physicality of summer league let alone the real NBA, which I believe is the main reason the team pulled the plug on him so early. Is that a surprise for a guy drafted at end of second round? No. Does that mean he can’t develop overseas? Of course not. Does that mean I’m more excited to see a 19 yo built like a fire hydrant with a 40+ inch vertical leap? He’ll yes!

[Hal14]

I agree, he didn’t look like an NBA caliber player last year in SL.

Ugh, I'm sick of this narrative.

1) he played in 2.5 games last year during summer league. That's way too small of a sample size to base anything off of

2) 1 of those games, he played very well with a number of "NBA caliber" plays and finishing with a higher FG% and higher +/- than Pritchard

3) He wasn't even playing big minutes in those games. 15 mins a game off the bench is nothing - especially when he only played in 2 and a a half games

4) Pritchard was clearly the guy running the show in last year's summer league team. Pritchard was given the keys to the car, because he was in the rotation all year as a rookie, he played in more games his rookie season than anyone else on the team - Madar was unknown so clearly Mazzula focused more of his efforts on Pritchard's development, getting more on ball reps for Pritchard and letting him run the point. Madar would go in, not stay in for very long (not long enough to get in a rhythm) and then get taken out.

5) Madar was playing in a foreign country - literally his first ever time playing in a game on US soil

6) Pritchard, Nesmith, Edwards and Langford with all veterans who had just been through an entire season of NBA practices and games together (2 years playing together for langford and edwards) compared to Madar who literally had never played with these guys ever before so had zero on court or off court chemistry/familiarity built up with them

7) What should we put more weight into when evaluating how good Madar is - 2.5 summer league games where he played 15 mins a game with basically no practice time playing with guys he'd never played with before - or the 151 pro games he played in overseas with teammates he was familar with, teammates who he actually went through a training camp with? Not to mention, the competition he has faced in the overseas pro leagues is comparable to the competition he faced last summer in the summer league. Most of the NBA's better players don't play in summer league - and most of the players who are playing in summer league are fringe NBA guys - it's not a great barometer for evaluating a player - you gotta take it with a grain of salt.

It's not like you can say "oh he was good overseas but then when he faced real competition in summer league he sucked" um, no. The competition he has faced overseas is comparable to summer league competition.

8) The adjustment to the further away 3 pt line in the NBA is going to take longer than 2.5 games. Most rookies have an entire summer league, training camp, preseason games to adjust..

9) The league Madar played in this past season is a more competitive league than the Israeli league he has played in previously. So if Madar did play in SL this year, it's safe to say he would have performed better than last year. This year he's 21 instead of 20 last year - this year he's coming off playing in a more competitive league than he had been playing in before - not to mention that this past season he played for arguably the best coach in all of Europe.

That’s great stuff but it doesn’t change my impression that in his brief stint in SL he didn’t look ready for the physicality of summer league let alone the real NBA, which I believe is the main reason the team pulled the plug on him so early. Is that a surprise for a guy drafted at end of second round? No. Does that mean he can’t develop overseas? Of course not. Does that mean I’m more excited to see a 19 yo built like a fire hydrant with a 40+ inch vertical leap? He’ll yes!

Totally understand being more pumped about Davison.

But Madar was injured last year, that's why they shut him down:

Read on Twitter

Also, Madar plays against big, strong grown men in his overseas pro league, with competition that's comparable to summer league competition. So I'm not sure how he "didn't look ready for the physicality of summer league" but he is able to handle the physicality of the Adriatic league and EuroCup without much problem. Plus, based on seeing footage of some of his games from this season, it looks like he's bulked up a little bit since last year's summer league.

[sam_I_am]

Ugh, I'm sick of this narrative.

1) he played in 2.5 games last year during summer league. That's way too small of a sample size to base anything off of

2) 1 of those games, he played very well with a number of "NBA caliber" plays and finishing with a higher FG% and higher +/- than Pritchard

3) He wasn't even playing big minutes in those games. 15 mins a game off the bench is nothing - especially when he only played in 2 and a a half games

4) Pritchard was clearly the guy running the show in last year's summer league team. Pritchard was given the keys to the car, because he was in the rotation all year as a rookie, he played in more games his rookie season than anyone else on the team - Madar was unknown so clearly Mazzula focused more of his efforts on Pritchard's development, getting more on ball reps for Pritchard and letting him run the point. Madar would go in, not stay in for very long (not long enough to get in a rhythm) and then get taken out.

5) Madar was playing in a foreign country - literally his first ever time playing in a game on US soil

6) Pritchard, Nesmith, Edwards and Langford with all veterans who had just been through an entire season of NBA practices and games together (2 years playing together for langford and edwards) compared to Madar who literally had never played with these guys ever before so had zero on court or off court chemistry/familiarity built up with them

7) What should we put more weight into when evaluating how good Madar is - 2.5 summer league games where he played 15 mins a game with basically no practice time playing with guys he'd never played with before - or the 151 pro games he played in overseas with teammates he was familar with, teammates who he actually went through a training camp with? Not to mention, the competition he has faced in the overseas pro leagues is comparable to the competition he faced last summer in the summer league. Most of the NBA's better players don't play in summer league - and most of the players who are playing in summer league are fringe NBA guys - it's not a great barometer for evaluating a player - you gotta take it with a grain of salt.

It's not like you can say "oh he was good overseas but then when he faced real competition in summer league he sucked" um, no. The competition he has faced overseas is comparable to summer league competition.

8) The adjustment to the further away 3 pt line in the NBA is going to take longer than 2.5 games. Most rookies have an entire summer league, training camp, preseason games to adjust..

9) The league Madar played in this past season is a more competitive league than the Israeli league he has played in previously. So if Madar did play in SL this year, it's safe to say he would have performed better than last year. This year he's 21 instead of 20 last year - this year he's coming off playing in a more competitive league than he had been playing in before - not to mention that this past season he played for arguably the best coach in all of Europe.

That’s great stuff but it doesn’t change my impression that in his brief stint in SL he didn’t look ready for the physicality of summer league let alone the real NBA, which I believe is the main reason the team pulled the plug on him so early. Is that a surprise for a guy drafted at end of second round? No. Does that mean he can’t develop overseas? Of course not. Does that mean I’m more excited to see a 19 yo built like a fire hydrant with a 40+ inch vertical leap? He’ll yes!

Totally understand being more pumped about Davison.

But Madar was injured last year, that's why they shut him down:

Read on Twitter

Also, Madar plays against big, strong grown men in his overseas pro league, with competition that's comparable to summer league competition. So I'm not sure how he "didn't look ready for the physicality of summer league" but he is able to handle the physicality of the Adriatic league and EuroCup without much problem. Plus, based on seeing footage of some of his games from this season, it looks like he's bulked up a little bit since last year's summer league.

I’d love to see him pan out so I’ll root for him. I like his feel for the game and his determination on defense. Hopefully he can compete for a spot during training camp but I suspect we’ll have to wait until next year assuming our draft rights don’t expire.

[Scoonie]

In terms of Yam Madar's draft rights: For any early entrant, their draft rights are held until a year after the first NBA Draft that player could've entered as a non-early entry candidate.

So I believe we have his draft rights for one more season after this next season, as he would've been an auto-entry in this year's draft due to turning 22 later this year.

[sam_I_am]

I expect Davidson to look really good in SL because I want to believe he was a steal given his athleticism. If he does look good….will the team try to lock him up with a longer deal as they have done before or use 2 way contract? My understanding is that if he signs a 1 year 2 way contract with the team he becomes RFA next year and the team will have bird rights to resign him but he might also ask for more money if he plays well. I expect team to sign him to a 2-4 year deal as they have done in past and use 2 ways on guys like Trevion or Kabengele etc. He could also refuse to sign a 2 way deal if he has a great SL. Finally, team can convert his contract during course of season too.

[playa-hater]

I expect Davidson to look really good in SL because I want to believe he was a steal given his athleticism. If he does look good….will the team try to lock him up with a longer deal as they have done before or use 2 way contract? My understanding is that if he signs a 1 year 2 way contract with the team he becomes RFA next year and the team will have bird rights to resign him but he might also ask for more money if he plays well. I expect team to sign him to a 2-4 year deal as they have done in past and use 2 ways on guys like Trevion or Kabengele etc. He could also refuse to sign a 2 way deal if he has a great SL. Finally, team can convert his contract during course of season too.

I don't have any expectations yet.. Do believe he will have some high light plays. I remember Trae Young looking horrible in his 1st summer league. Lot's of adjustments for players speed/size etc..

All I want realistically speaking are "good signs".. especially in running the team/passing and shooting department. and maybe, most of all, limit turnovers.

[31to6]

Heard someone on a podcast today say it was like drafting Dennis Smith Jr. in the second round. Which is probably more useful than Ja/Westbrook comparisons. But I’m here for whatever — we haven’t had an explosive point guard since Decovan Kadell Brown and he had the hops, but not the strength.

(I don’t expect Davison to carve a out a career comparable to DSJ or Dee Brown, just making small talk in the dog days of summer)

[jfs1000d]

Heard someone on a podcast today say it was like drafting Dennis Smith Jr. in the second round. Which is probably more useful than Ja/Westbrook comparisons. But I’m here for whatever — we haven’t had an explosive point guard since Decovan Kadell Brown and he had the hops, but not the strength.

(I don’t expect Davison to carve a out a career comparable to DSJ or Dee Brown, just making small talk in the dog days of summer)

This kid can’t play yet. Doesn’t mean he won’t down the line. Stash seems dumb, so I imagine a two way is the default unless brad is willing to do a 2 year deal
Plus an option. That would be nuts though.

But this is the kind of player u take a swing at and develop. Thst ir a euro stash.


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[Scoonie]

Heard someone on a podcast today say it was like drafting Dennis Smith Jr. in the second round.

Dennis Smith Jr. was a much, much more skilled offensive player coming out of college. Way ahead of where Davison is.

[cl2117]

Just from looking more into this kid it's hard to get overly excited. Really feels like he's got a long long way to go before he's going to be able to contribute in a meaningful way. Which is fine, but usually means he's going to do something for you on his 2nd or 3rd contract (if he does at all), which most likely isn't with the C's.

It's why I really like the idea of using these late round flyers on draft and stash guys. You can say exactly the same thing about Madar and Begarin but at least they're still overseas and not burning any of their contract years with us yet. They've got a slightly better chance to end up doing something useful for us at some point.

That being said I think this kid is gonna be real fun to watch. Should make Summer League as well as Redclaw games more fun to watch. Super explosive and has a lot of pace to his game. If he does put it all together he'll be a really interesting piece for us (or someone else).

[GregB]

Heard someone on a podcast today say it was like drafting Dennis Smith Jr. in the second round.

Dennis Smith Jr. was a much, much more skilled offensive player coming out of college. Way ahead of where Davison is.

Who had developed terrible habits as a ball stopper. Jd seems open to coaching based on the tape video he did with Mike Schmidt.

[threrf23]

Heard someone on a podcast today say it was like drafting Dennis Smith Jr. in the second round.

Dennis Smith Jr. was a much, much more skilled offensive player coming out of college. Way ahead of where Davison is.

Who had developed terrible habits as a ball stopper. Jd seems open to coaching based on the tape video he did with Mike Schmidt.

DSJ demanded a trade from the Mavericks b/c he didn't want Luka taking his usage from him. And he had that kind of reputation ahead of time. Davison's rep is more the opposite, and while it might be semantics, his statistical production at Alabama was more similar to Ja Morant's freshman year than DSJ's. Like Morant, Davison excelled more on the boards, was efficient on lowish volume inside the arc, and had work to put in on his outside shot.

[Curmudgeon]

LOL. I think Demetrius Jackson (who has been on the Celtics books since the middle ages) is a more apt comparison than Ja Morant.
Jackson played in Spain a year ago but appears to be out of basketball.
Another comparison would be a poor man's Coby White (before White cut his hair).

[Larry_Russell]

I dont get why we are worried about JD/Pritchard/Yam situation.

Pritchard and Yam, imo, both points
JD is a scoring guard.

[brackdan70]

Heard someone on a podcast today say it was like drafting Dennis Smith Jr. in the second round. Which is probably more useful than Ja/Westbrook comparisons. But I’m here for whatever — we haven’t had an explosive point guard since Decovan Kadell Brown and he had the hops, but not the strength.

(I don’t expect Davison to carve a out a career comparable to DSJ or Dee Brown, just making small talk in the dog days of summer)

I loved Dee Brown. Maybe just a soft spot for short guy dunks.

[brackdan70]

I’m not holding my breath for the next coming of Ja Morant, but I think a legit NBA player that settles into a rotation somewhere is realistic. He’s got some translatable skills, but also plenty to work on.

[jfs1000d]

I’m not holding my breath for the next coming of Ja Morant, but I think a legit NBA player that settles into a rotation somewhere is realistic. He’s got some translatable skills, but also plenty to work on.

That's my one criticism with the pick. He is essentially going to use us as college to develop. Then, once het gets to be a rotation eligible player, he probably leaves.

For that reason, he has to become a two-way player for us. He isn't ready to play.