For the Celtics, this offseason wasn’t about landing a big free agent or swinging for the fences on a trade. The champs are, for the most part, running it back. The same squad that hoisted the Larry O’Brien three weeks ago and will raise Banner 18 on Opening Night.
However, for second round pick and newcomer Anton Watson, getting drafted and coming to the Celtics means joining that storied culture.
“Winners. The legacy. Just the mentality towards everything,” Watson said at his first media availability on Monday. “First time we met in [The Auerbach Center], they said it’s different here. That’s kind of the vibe you get here. I think they got the right approach on things.”
He continued, “When you walk around, you see all the trophies. The trophy was on center court. It just shows what it takes to be here.”
Watson was selected at #54 out of Gonzaga University after spending five seasons in Spokane. He was voted All-Conference First Team last year, averaging 14.5 points on 57.8% shooting and 7.1 rebounds.
It’s still unclear whether Watson will join the team on a two-way contract or just spend the year in Maine with the G-League affiliate, but his presence in Boston almost seems fated despite the long road to get here.
“The Celtics were actually my first workout out of the sixteen I did. It was a lot. Coming here, you don’t know what to expect [with] the first workout. I thought I did a good job. I shot it well, played well, but got injured at the G League combine,” Watson said. “I had to come back and do a lot more workouts. Those workouts started to pick up towards the end. I didn’t really know what was going to happen on Draft Night. I knew the Celtics liked me. Brad Stevens gave me the call and it was the best day of my life.”
Watson is somewhat undersized as a big man at 6’7, 241 pounds, but in college, he proved to be a solid defender, rebounder, and maybe most importantly, a floor spacer. Sound familiar?
“Shooting is obviously a big piece. Kind of like that Al Horford role. He’s a great shooter. I think learning from him is going to be huge for me and actually all the veterans on this team,” Watson said of his game and how it might translate to the NBA. “Shooting is going to be huge and just my defense, using that to my strengths and coming out and guarding every single game. That’s going to be big for me. Yeah, shooting is going to open up my offensive ability, but defense is where I’m strong at.”
Celtics rookies Anton Watson and Baylor Scheierman, along with Leon Powe, are here at The Shamrock Foundation’s basketball clinic in Roxbury. pic.twitter.com/rLlKi04Kcf
— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) July 8, 2024
After the draft, Horford, along with Derrick White and Jayson Tatum, sent him a text welcoming him to the team, but he’s been on the front office’s radar for awhile. Stevens said that he envisions Watson as a “hybrid forward that can switch and guard a lot of people…with a mindset that he’s going to let it fly like he’s never let it fly before because I think he’s a better shooter than he sometimes thinks he is.”
Watson hit 22 of his 55 shots from behind the arc last season and has been working on his shot since the end of the season. “I feel like I got a good shot. I just gotta be more confident with it. Let it fly in practice and shoot it as much as I can.”
