The Boston Celtics’ only draft choice in 2023 was Jordan Walsh out of Arkansas, a 6-foot-7 wing that specializes on defense and has a 7-foot-3 wingspan.

Walsh declared for the NBA Draft after only one season at Arkansas, where he averaged 7.1 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field. He also averaged 3.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman spoke to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg on his Celtics Talk podcast about Walsh’s abilities on the court and how he can help the Celtics.

“Excellent athlete. He’s a player that can play multiple positions at the collegiate level. He was able to play the three, four, and the two. He’s an underrated passer, very good rebounder for his position. I think he’s a guy that’ll carve a nice niche out at the NBA level.”

Musselman went on to explain how he utilized Walsh best on defense by having him guard the other team’s best scorer.

“He can guard a guy individually and take a premier scorer out of the game. That’s what we did at the college level, where we assigned him to a top player on the other team and not have to give any help. He’s a lockdown defender individually and then off the ball he’s a great loose ball-getter. He just gives you a lot of different things from a defensive perspective. Most importantly, he allows the coaching staff to have versatility in their defensive game plans because of his ability to jump passing lanes and create some offense through defense.”

During his post-draft press conference, Brad Stevens said that Walsh is “ahead defensively”, so hearing this from Musselman was just the cherry on top of the cake for Celtics fans.

Musselman identified Walsh as a young 18-year-old senior in high school, recruited him to Arkansas and said that he saw NBA qualities in him early on.

Jordan Walsh is poised to be a special player in Boston.

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Photo Credit: Nelson Chennault, USA TODAY