Anton Watson shines once again as Celtics wrap up Summer League with loss: 10 takeaways

After a 103-98 loss to the 76ers, Watson remains a promising player for next season.

The Celtics wrapped up Summer League with a 103-98 loss to the 76ers on Sunday, falling to 2-3 during their time in Las Vegas.

Here’s what we learned from the Celtics’ time there.

1. Let’s start by reiterating that none of the players we saw in Las Vegas are likely to have a big impact next season, which was hammered home when the Celtics agreed to a contract extension with Sam Hauser on the last day of the Summer League slate. The regular-season rotation is set, and it was set the moment the Celtics won the championship and immediately started bringing back an entire team full of championship winners.

That’s not to say Vegas was useless, by any means – the Celtics got a closer look at several players who might help down the line, and any amount of information they can gather for the future will be valuable once their half-a-billion-dollar roster becomes a little too unwieldy.

But in the near-term, you know who the Celtics are, and the Celtics certainly know who they are. The last week didn’t do anything to change that.

2. JD Davison, Ron Harper Jr. Jahmi’us Ramsey, Jaden Springer and Neemias Queta all sat out Sunday’s game, as the Celtics made sure everyone else who signed onto their Summer League squad got a chance to play.

3. Anton Watson came away from the week with the most obvious path to playing time next season.

Watson’s defense was notably good – he’s active, athletic and engaged, and his versatility is impressive thanks to his height and strength. Watson looks more than capable of switching to guarding his yard, and he can help defend the paint when need be. As a tweener, he fits the Celtics’ mold nicely.

The biggest reason Watson might earn minutes is because he can simply do so many things. In college, Watson scored most of his points around the rim, but when he was asked to step into a role as a 3-point shooter for the Celtics, he looked very comfortable, and the types of looks he got at Summer League could also be looks he gets in the NBA given the amount of spacing the Celtics’ stars create on any given possession.

He should also be more than capable of absorbing contact when he drives to the rim – that was his default mode in college, and he showed flashes of it in Las Vegas once again.

Watson is expected to sign a two-way deal, but like Queta last year, he might be in contention for the final roster spot by the end of the year. Even if he isn’t, he looks like a potential keeper and a great development piece for a team that will need quite a few options at some point in the future.

4. Jordan Walsh finally caught a heater on Sunday, shooting 4-for-8 from 3-point range to lead the Celtics in scoring with 18 points.

Walsh had a difficult stretch in Las Vegas – he attempted six 3-pointers per game, but he made just 13 percent of them after Sunday’s flurry. He also finished with a precise 2.2/2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. As a whole, the 20-year-old certainly could have asked for more.

“I feel like I played pretty bad,” he told reporters after Sunday’s game, chuckling. “But we came out, won a couple games, had some fun, got to meet some new guys, got to play with the team. I feel like I got better as it went on, but I definitely expected more from myself for sure.”

How concerned should fans be about Walsh?

Summer League wasn’t encouraging, but it was notable how different Walsh looked on Sunday when his 3-pointers started falling. Walsh wouldn’t be the first player to be transformed by an effective jumpshot, and he wouldn’t be the first player to hit a rough patch, get in his own head and struggle.

Walsh remains very physically gifted, with perfect NBA size and length and great athleticism. There’s still plenty of NBA potential untapped, if he can turn his shot into a consistent weapon.

5. Scheierman is a really good rebounder with a nice head for the game. He has deep range on his jumper, and defenses will certainly close out hard when the ball swings around the perimeter and finds him.

But Hauser’s new contract probably destined Scheierman for a good amount of time in Maine this year, which could be a decent landing spot for the time being. Getting up to NBA speed, especially on the defensive end, would likely lock him into a reasonably long NBA career.

6. Tyler Cook had a nice week. He doesn’t have a particularly clear path to the NBA – given his height (roughly 6-foot-9), he really could use an effective shot from deep to carve out a tweener forward/center role – but the St. Louis native (and former high-school teammate of Jayson Tatum) is a good player and an excellent athlete who could likely build a long and highly lucrative career overseas, if he wants to avoid the NBA’s fringes.

7. In retrospect, Jaden Springer showing up and completely outclassing Summer League competition for precisely one game before quickly exiting into the Las Vegas night was kind of funny. Springer and Queta were both entirely too polished for these ragged games, but Summer League head coach D.J. MacLeay praised them for their “willingness” to be with the team.

8. We’re repeating ourselves a bit here, but while Jaelen House is probably too short to play a major role in the NBA, he plays a feisty, competitive and hyper-confident brand of basketball on both ends that could endear him to the right coach. While he – like Cook – would do very well overseas, a season in the G-League chasing 10-day contract opportunities might not be a year ill-spent.

9. This was a pretty cool moment.

10. The end of Summer League usually marks the true end of a team’s season, but the Celtics have three players on Team USA who will participate in the Olympics later this month. If you aren’t quite ready to be done with Celtics basketball, you’re in luck.