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WATCH: Brad Stevens breaks down selection, skillset of Alabama's JD Davison

Untitled design (2)by: Sam Gillenwater06/24/22samdg_33
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Michael Chang | Getty Images

The Boston Celtics selected Alabama guard JD Davison with the 53rd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Davison was On3’s No. 1 point guard in their 2021 Consensus Top Basketball Recruits coming out of high school. After an altogether up and down season in Tuscaloosa, Davison said he was “done with college” and declared for the NBA.

After the draft, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens talked about Boston’s second round selection.

Stevens would go on to say he understands that Davison went through growing pains last season. While he knows Davison comes with a lot of potential, Stevens says he showed his age in some games throughout the year.

“He had some really good games and he had some games where he looked like a freshman,” said Stevens per Alex Barth of 98.5 The Hub in Boston. He continued by subsequently reminding him that Davison is “just 12 months removed from his high school graduation.”

In 33 games for Alabama, Davison averaged 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists. As a former top-prospect, there is a lot to work with based on those numbers combined with his eye-popping athleticism. All that earned him a spot on the 2022 SEC All Freshman Team.

However, he was inefficient off the Alabama bench. He shot 30.1% from three and averaged 2.9 turnovers a game. While the highs of his potential are high, the lows of his youth and poor play during the season hurt him.

Most mocks listed Davison as a second-round pick for the length of the draft season. They came true last night and now Boston has a quality prospect at point guard for the future. The Celtics are coming off an NBA Finals appearance in 2022. That leaves them with the time to bring Davison along slowly as a project. If they can take the time to develop him, Davison could end up being a steal for Stevens a few years down the road.