Boston Celtics third-year guard JD Davison is on his final year of two-way contract eligibility between Boston and Maine. This is the prove it year for Davison.
Davison was drafted at the end of the second round, 53rd overall, in 2022 out of Alabama after only one season. He averaged 8.5 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field and he added in 4.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and one steal per game in 33 career games in 2021-22.
In his one collegiate season, Davison finished atop the SEC in total assists (143), assists per game (4.3), and assist percentage (29.4), while also making the SEC All-Freshman Team for 2021-22.
Davison is an advanced playmaker and can get to the rim with ease, but his biggest struggle is 3-point shooting. In college, Davison averaged 30.1 percent from behind the arc and then 31.7 percent during his first year in the G League with the Maine Celtics in 2022-23.
Last year, Davison took more shots from deep, averaging only 26.6 percent during the regular season. It’s a slight dip from his previous year, however, Davison averaged 41.9 percent in the playoffs and looked confident as he led Maine to the G League Finals.
Davison is the Maine Celtics all-time leader in assists with 716 in only two seasons. He has all the tools and the skill to be a facilitating point guard for Boston in the future, but he needs to become more consistent shooting from deep in this next season.
JDD is also Maine’s leader in double-doubles with 22 and he has one triple double in his career. He made the All-NBA G League Third Team last season, averaging 21.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in 44 games.
The system that Maine has thrived in over the last few years has been a high pick-and-roll that’s designed for the guard to feed the center above the rim. We saw Boston run a lot of this concept in the 2021-22 season under then head coach Ime Udoka with Robert Williams as the roll-man.
That said, this is a system that Maine still runs on while Boston has deviated from it over the last two seasons. In recent years, Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta all thrived in this concept during their time in Maine which led to being promoted to Boston.
Although Davison has to improve as a shooter, there isn’t much space for him in Boston right now with Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Payton Pritchard, Jaden Springer, and the addition of rookie Baylor Scheierman.
Davison should really hone in on improving as a shooter during this season in Maine and plan to make a legit run at a roster spot in Boston in training camp next year.
Boston really likes what Davison is as a player considering they’ve brought him back for a few years now. In the near future, there will be availability in Boston as players age out and contracts become larger, the need for quality players on smaller contracts is going to be high moving forward.
One last note, Davison can visualize the pathway from the G League to the NBA from his experience being in Maine.
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