Why Boston Celtics guard Juhann Begarin is a player to get hyped about

If you were scouting for the Boston Celtics future while watching the NBA Summer League, you have to feel encouraged by what you saw. 2022 second round pick JD Davison came on after a slow start. Mfiondu Kabengele came from practically out of nowhere to earn a two-way deal. And Juhann Begarin made a case for being Boston’s best player.

A 2021 second round selection, Begarin made his second Summer League appearance and was dramatically better from his debut last summer. He played in five games and averaged 18.2 points, with the highlight a 25-point outburst in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

If Begarin was that player every night, he might had signed a deal with Boston. Instead, Begarin is heading back to Paris. Earlier this week we learned that Begarin is going back overseas for the 2022-23 season. It’s for the best.

Waiting one more year for Juhann Begarin to join the Boston Celtics is disappointing, but it’s the right move

Begarin was highly entertaining during the Summer League. He displayed an excellent feel for cutting to the rim for easy buckets. His athleticism stood out on fast breaks and a posterization of Milwaukee’s Sandro Mamukelashvili:

As nice as Begarin’s game was, his shooting is a glaring weakness. He shot 42.7 percent from the floor, 33.3 from distance, and 76.9 from the free throw line. Those numbers likely would go down across the board against NBA competition.

What would go up is Begarin’s turnovers. He was responsible for 4.2 per game. That’s almost double his 2.4 assists per game. Right now he would be too much of a liability to put on the court with the Boston Celtics.

Begarin will go back to the LNB Pro A League in Paris to sharpen his game. It’s the best league in France, so the competition is good.

Is it better than playing for the Maine Celtics? Well for starters, home sickness won’t be a problem. Secondly, without the temptation of playing to get to Boston, Juhann won’t be distracted. Also, he’s just 20 years old. No need to rush him.

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After witnessing Begarin’s dramatic improvement, it’s understandable to want to break the seal on his NBA career. Begarin coming off the bench to spell Jaylen Brown sounds like a dream come true, but he’s just not ready yet. There’s no rush to get Begarin to the big time.

Boston’s roster is loaded with ready to play veterans with winning banner 18 the objective. And, as mentioned before, Begarin is just 20 years old. When Brown was 20, he was a Celtic rookie that averaged just 6.6 points in 17.2 minutes per game, mostly off the bench. A year later Brown more than doubled his scoring.

It took until Brown’s fourth season to average more than 20 points per game. By his fifth, he earned his first All-Star selection.

No one should expect Begarin to become as good as Brown, but like Brown he wouldn’t be NBA ready at 20 years old. And with the Boston Celtics competing for a championship, developmental minutes would be few and far between.

Begarin averaged 28 minutes per game for Paris Basketball last year. That’s plenty of time to improve his shooting across the board and improve his ball security if he gets similar minutes in 22-23. If he takes another quantum leap in his second year, the Boston Celtics won’t send Begarin across the pond again.