Boston Celtics: Summer League assignments for JD Davison

Boston Celtics need to improve JD Davison’s shooting from deep

JD Davison believes the floor spacing in the NBA will be a better fit for his game with the Boston Celtics. Maybe he’s right, but it won’t work if he can’t space the floor as well. In today’s game, you have to be a respectable three-point shooter. The 30 percent clip Davison shot while at Alabama is nowhere close to good enough.

If you’re looking for a glimmer of hope, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Davison missed all of his three-point attempts in 16 games last season. That’s more times than games where he hit at least one three (14). The good news: Davison shot 51 percent on threes in the games where he did hit at least one. The bad news: we can’t even say Davison is a streaky shooter.

Only twice did Davison have consecutive games where he hit a 3-pointer: 1-of-2 against Miami on November 28th and 4-of-6 against Gonzaga on December 4th. And Davison had a three-game streak: 1-of-3 against Kentucky on February 5th, 2-of-2 against Ole Miss February 9th, and 1-3 against Arkansas on February 12th. That’s .500 over three games. That’s the best I can do.

We know Davison is a developmental selection. The good news is players can become dramatically better shooters if they work hard at it. Grant Williams is a prime example.

Davison probably won’t become that good during the Summer League. But if he at least shows good judgement when he takes threes and doesn’t force it, he will take the first step towards improving one of his biggest weaknesses.