Walsh is seen as a defensive player, but where will offense come for Boston?
On Thursday morning, the Boston Celtics officially extended fourth-year guard/forward Jordan Walsh, giving him a three-year contract extension that will keep him in Boston for the next four years total.
Selected in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft out of Arkansas, Walsh is still just 22 years old and growing. In three seasons, he's seen his role amplify each year: He played only nine games as a rookie, but elevated to 52 games as a sophomore and 68 games as a third-year player.
He even earned 25 starts this past season, helping the Celtics go 56-26 in the regular season and earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
More of a defender than a scorer, Walsh averaged 5.4 ppg this past season on 50.9 percent shooting. He also made 38.4 percent of his three-pointers, though he only attempted 1.8 per game. He averaged four rebounds a night, playing an average of 17.8 minutes.
After the extension was made final, the Celtics posted a defensive highlight montage of Walsh, which leads us to a question: How will the rotations work for head coach Joe Mazzulla?
The reason why we ask is because the Celtics have now committed to two players who are largely defensive-first players in Walsh and Mitchell Robinson. At least in Robinson's case, he's a defense and rebounding first player.
So, can the Celtics afford to have two players on the floor at the same time who only averaged less than 13 ppg between the two of them? Or can they not be on the floor at the same time, thus causing Mazzulla to get creative in his lineups?
If they are on the floor together, that will put a lot of pressure on the other three players around them. That will mean even more offense has to come from Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White.
Also in the news for the Celtics
Earlier this week, we heard that there's some interest between the Celtics and free agent veteran Bradley Beal.
Beal, a 14-year veteran of the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers, is available after he opted out of his previous contract with the Clippers.
When it comes to money, the Celtics don't really have a lot to offer someone of Beal's resume, so what exactly are the selling points for them in a possible deal?
We broke those down here.
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