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

[Jammer]

Maybe all those jokes of undersized PG’s in the past should have been directed at Brad and not Danny.

Davison is not an undersized PG. Average height of an NBA PG is 6'2.5". That's literally what Davison is. And he's got a 37" vertical leap

He measured 6’ 0.5” without shoes.

And with all the hair he’s sporting, it is almost like being measured with a Tophat.

[playa-hater]

My questions are more about a player's intangibles and shooting abilities ESPECIALLY if they are a PG. Does JD have a good feel for the game?? Can he run a team??? How is his court vision?? His passing instincts?? How is his shooting? Can he be a good 3 level scorer?? Obviously defense matters and in my opinion that can be seen the quickest amongst abilities unlike the others.

As it stands now my biggest concern is his shooting. Even more so when we have witnessed teams crowd the driving lanes and seeing the Js struggle when that happens.

Getting a project shooter for a Big is one thing, but for guard is much harder to stomach. The history of Boston drafting smaller players in RD 2 the last 10 years or so is also working against this pick..

With all that said, no one knows how things will work out and Hope springs eternal etc..

One thing is for certain, he doesn't look like a Boring player.

[Hal14]

Read on Twitter

Nice - Davison not far at all behind guys who played way more mins than him and are 3-4 years older than him.

[Fencer reregistered]

“Davison's 28% turnover percentage will be the highest of any player drafted in the past decade.”

Lonzo Ball without the size or passing skills?

[Hal14]

Maybe all those jokes of undersized PG’s in the past should have been directed at Brad and not Danny.

Davison is not an undersized PG. Average height of an NBA PG is 6'2.5". That's literally what Davison is. And he's got a 37" vertical leap

He measured 6’ 0.5” without shoes.

It's the in-shoes measurements that the NBA counts as official. In shoes he's 6'2.5". And the NBA for official measurements rounds up if they're a half inch over, so he is officially listed at 6'3" with a 6'7" wingspan and a 37" vertical.

[Fencer reregistered]

I think it's a great pick for that point in the draft. He's a developmental guy with a very high ceiling. He needs some work but could be really good in the future.

Watch on YouTube

He can dunk adequately.
He can also finish high off the glass (to the right of the basket).
He can throw lobs, even threading a needle to do so.
He can shoot 3s with a low release point, slowly.

What else?

[Celts17Pride]

Celtics need a point guard that can penetrate and put pressure on the defense. Davison is young and will need time but it looks like he can do that part of the game.

[165bows]

Davison is not an undersized PG. Average height of an NBA PG is 6'2.5". That's literally what Davison is. And he's got a 37" vertical leap

He measured 6’ 0.5” without shoes.

It's the in-shoes measurements that the NBA counts as official. In shoes he's 6'2.5". And the NBA for official measurements rounds up if they're a half inch over, so he is officially listed at 6'3" with a 6'7" wingspan and a 37" vertical.

Those are some damn big shoes lol. Let’s call him 6’2” and call it good

[threrf23]

So, I'm not that familiar with the guy, but...

He averaged 7.4 rebounds per 40 this year. That's great for a 6'3 in shoes PG. It's comparable Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo, Jason Kidd in college (better than all three if we are looking at their freshman years, slightly worse than their sophomore years), slightly better than Marcus Smart at Oklahoma State. Granted he benefits from his athleticism if not also his build, rebounding tends to be an indicator of motor/instincts/fundamentals so that's a really good sign, speaks to a high ceiling and decent intangibles.

He converted more than 56% of his FGAs inside the arc. That is comparable to Kidd and Rondo, better than Bev and Smart. I find that being able to convert inside tends to speak to a player's ability to assert himself against NBA competition.

A lot is being made about his turnovers, but his A/TO ratio was 1.5, which is unimpressive but generally passable. It's worse than Kidd and Rondo, but it's better than Bev and identical to Marcus Smart at Oklahoma State, better than Russ Westbrook.

He posted 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks oper 40 - nothing special - but also only 1.9 fouls per 40. That's 1.1 stls/blks per foul which is decent; this is an area where Kidd/Rondo/Smart all excelled a bit, but it's a decent improvement over Patrick Bev and it's similar to Marcus Smart's sophomore year.

nbadraft.net and NBA Scouting Live both describe him as "unselfish," "unslefish to a fault" acc to Live. This is one of the areas where he is set apart from Dennis Smith Jr who he might otherwise get compared to.

This kid's got as much upside as most guards drafted last night, and while he has things to work on I see zero glaring weaknesses or red flags that should prevent him from having a solid NBA career. Should have been drafted much higher IMO. I like the pick.

[Marti-mar]

I think it's a great pick for that point in the draft. He's a developmental guy with a very high ceiling. He needs some work but could be really good in the future.

Watch on YouTube

He can dunk adequately.
He can also finish high off the glass (to the right of the basket).
He can throw lobs, even threading a needle to do so.
He can shoot 3s with a low release point, slowly.

What else?

Lottery level athleticism is always a plus. He's a very good rebounder out of the guard position. Pretty good steals player too. If he's coachable and maximizes himself, he could be a really good player. But he needs time as he's very raw.

[zoyathedestroya]

He's taller than Tremont Waters. It's already an improvement from previous years.

[jmr07019]

“Davison's 28% turnover percentage will be the highest of any player drafted in the past decade.”

He’ll fit right in

[Parliament10]

Maybe all those jokes of undersized PG’s in the past should have been directed at Brad and not Danny.

Davison is not an undersized PG. Average height of an NBA PG is 6'2.5". That's literally what Davison is. And he's got a 37" vertical leap

He measured 6’ 0.5” without shoes.

He's listed at 6'3" in a number of places.
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4576085/jd-davison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Davison
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jd-davison-1.html

Read on Twitter

[Jammer]

Davison is not an undersized PG. Average height of an NBA PG is 6'2.5". That's literally what Davison is. And he's got a 37" vertical leap

He measured 6’ 0.5” without shoes.

He's listed at 6'3" in a number of places.
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4576085/jd-davison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Davison
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jd-davison-1.html

Read on Twitter

Probably had Coach K do his measurement. If you don’t understand that statement, stand next to Johnny Dawkins and check his listed height at Duke

The most recent one for Davison is the one I and Hal14 referenced.

[Jammer]

He measured 6’ 0.5” without shoes.

He's listed at 6'3" in a number of places.
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4576085/jd-davison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Davison
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jd-davison-1.html

Read on Twitter

Probably had Coach K do his measurement. If you don’t understand that statement, stand next to Johnny Dawkins and check his listed height at Duke

The most recent one is the one I and Hal14 referenced.

Coach K’s listing of some players coincided with the switch from the old NBA measurements of barefoot heights rounded down to the more recent height in sneakers rounded up.

A year or 2 ago the NBA tried to get away from that and be more accurate, but there isn’t uniformity across rosters, although it is definately more accurate than 5 years ago.

[Hal14]

3 things I'll add:

1) This was Davison's first ever college game. Look at the pace, look at how he is always looking to push the pace, attack, put pressure on the defense, he finds the open man, plays with a ton of energy, can hit the 3

Read on Twitter

/retweets/with_comments

2) For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, check out this video to get a better understanding of his game and the type of person he is. Even if you only watch the first 6 mins or so, highly recommended. He is a humble, quiet southern kid who simply loves the game of basketball and brings some positive energy/vibes.

Watch on YouTube

;t=18s

3) These 2 drafts, the first 2 in the Brad era. Very similar. Brad traded his 1st round pick both times for good, proven veterans. He kept his mid to late 2nd round picks. Now, let's look at similarities between Begarin and Davison. Both very young. Begarin was 18 on draft night, turned 19 a few months later. Davis was 19 on draft night, will turn 20 a few months later. Both very fast, explosive, athletic dudes. Both were 2 of the most explosive/athletic guys in their draft class. Both have the ability to make some big time highlight reel plays on both ends of the floor. Both can really get above the rim and make some impressive dunks. Both are good but not great shooters. Both have good size, for their position. Bottom line, they are both guys who are young, exciting players. Neither are guys who are going to contribute as a rookie and probably not even in their 2nd year. But they're both high upside guys who both also (from interviews on youtube) seem to have a good head on their shoulders and both seem to genuinely love the game of basketball. Clearly, Brad's strategy with these picks is that he doesn't want to rookies (or even 2nd year guys) getting rotation minutes. He wants Banner 18, and knows that teams who win titles very rarely have 1st or 2nd year guys in the rotation. So rather than drafting a guy like Tevin Brown, Jules Bernard, Gabe Brown, Jared Rhoden or Ron Harper Jr - he's going with the younger, higher upside guys.

Then, both last year and this year, for an UDFA pickup he has gone with an older guy, one who is much closer to being ready to contribute (Hauser, Trevion williams). Both Hauser and Trevion are guys who have some speed, athleticism and defense question marks. BUT both of them do have 1 elite skill to hang their hat on. Hauser was arguably the best pure shooter in the entire draft last year, and Trevion is arguably the best passer in the entire draft this year.

[sam_I_am]

I think JD has first round pick athletic talent and might have moved up there next year had he went back into draft and improved his shooting/decision making. To get talent at #53 that has a chance to fit in with this team is pretty good. Doubt he has an IT like career but maybe he pans out the way Carson Edwards did not. He tested at 44.5 vertical leap for Alabama even though he only jumped 37 at combine. Even if he never plays real minutes this year, he should get a highlight dunk or two this year.

[Half-Full]

I think JD has first round pick athletic talent and might have moved up there next year had he went back into draft and improved his shooting/decision making. To get talent at #53 that has a chance to fit in with this team is pretty good. Doubt he has an IT like career but maybe he pans out the way Carson Edwards did not. He tested at 44.5 vertical leap for Alabama even though he only jumped 37 at combine. Even if he never plays real minutes this year, he should get a highlight dunk or two this year.

I think you are right. If JD had chosen to return to Alabama next year, the likelihood is that he would be a first round pick in the 2023 draft. In essence we got a first round pick a year early. Sure, he needs some development, but the talent is there, and he's only 19! This pick was a total surprise, but after having a chance to check scouting reports, and video, I feel this was a good pick.

[Half-Full]

Interesting article regarding JD

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2022/06/24/celtics-nba-draft-jd-davison-alabama-guard-tony-tsoukalas-analysis-reaction/

[captain green]

Ya typically my m.o. is hating tiny guys but I can't help but to like the tape!! Heard we got turned down on two trades ..

Since when is 6'3'' tiny for a PG?

For the record I call pgs , tiny guys