Boston Celtics

NBA Draft 2022: What Boston Celtics are getting in JD Davison

Updated Jul. 7, 2022 3:10 p.m. ET

By John Fanta
FOX Sports College Basketball Writer

The best pure athlete in the 2022 NBA Draft class was taken as the No. 53 overall selection.

Sounds difficult to believe, right? But in this draft, there’s a case to be made that it's exactly what the Boston Celtics got in JD Davison.

The one-and-done prospect possesses jaw-dropping athleticism with elite downhill speed and an explosive vertical leap that allowed him to produce highlight-reel plays in his lone season at Alabama.

So why did it take until the back of the draft for Davison to get picked?

There are questions about how well the 19-year-old’s athleticism will translate to making the right basketball plays consistently at the NBA level.

After being named Alabama’s Mr. Basketball twice and a McDonald’s All-American while averaging 32.4 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in his senior year of high school, Davison elected to stay close to home and play for Nate Oats.

At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, he averaged 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game this past season. As flashy as he could be as a distributor, the game was too fast for Davison, and he really struggled as a decision-maker, averaging 2.9 turnovers per contest.

Additionally, the mechanics on his shot were inconsistent, as he went just 30% from beyond the arc and 25% on pull-up jumpers. This is a concern because, in the immediate future, it’s difficult to see how Davison impacts an NBA game from a scoring perspective.

That said, Boston fully understands that Davison is a project. Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens openly admitted that the team’s mindset in this draft "was about finding a guy we can invest in and put a lot of time into." That’s the luxury you have when you’re coming off a run to the NBA Finals.

"He had some incredible games, and he also had some games where he looked like a freshman, but he always competed," Stevens said when asked about Davison. "He’s a good competitor and played in a really good program for really good coaches. And he’s very young, very explosive. That’s pretty obvious."

Many evaluators believed Davison should have gone back to college for another year because he is so far from a finished product, but to him, the fit of the Eastern Conference champion Celtics validates his decision.

"When I got my name called by the Celtics, when my agent called me and said, ‘The Celtics got you,’ it was just like, 'You're going to be in an organization where they win,'" Davison said. "So it was just really important to where I know I can come in here and get better every day and just come here and win. I was very happy."

For a second-round draft pick, organizational fit becomes that much more important. There’s a lot of room for Davison to grow, but he couldn’t ask for a better situation and developmental staff to try to turn that athleticism into on-court results in due time.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.