Jordan Walsh is getting his shot.
For all the analysis about who might start for the Boston Celtics this season, the idea of starting Walsh never gained mainstream traction. His name would come up in discussions from time to time from people who saw Boston's roster and thought they'd need a point-of-attack defender, but, generally speaking, the debate centered around Payton Pritchard and Baylor Scheierman .
The 6-foot-7 Walsh and his 7-foot-1 wingspan ended up winning the starting gig, and he's immediately taken on some of the team's biggest defensive tasks. According to NBA tracking data, he spent 22 possessions on Jalen Brunson, holding him to five points on 2-7 shooting (1-2 from three). In 14 possessions against Walsh, Cade Cunningham scored three points on 1-4 shooting and had three assists. And though Michael Porter Jr. hit two timely threes with Walsh on him, they were the only points in 17 possessions.
"Jordan continues to be really good at the start of games, guarding the team's best player," Joe Mazzulla said earlier in October. "Getting off to a good start defensively, something he's done well for us ... it's a huge role for him that we're going to need from him."
Overall, Walsh is holding opponents to just 40% shooting, but that number is prone to wild swings at this point of the season. Still, Walsh is relishing the role of not only taking on the most important matchup of the game, but also giving his teammates a break.
"I feel like a lot of my job is to kind of take that stress off them," Walsh said at the team's Thursday practice. "I get through a screen, and then there's no coverage, there's no help side, there's no squeeze. It's just me playing one-on-one against their best player ... So there's no need for rotations. There's no need for switching. There's no need for coverage solutions. It's just 'Jordan guard the best player one-on-one, get through a ball screen. We get a stop. We go the other way.'"
It's not perfect. Walsh struggled with Julius Randle, which might suggest some trouble guarding bigger, physical forwards. He still fouls a bit too much, which is a byproduct of being ultra aggressive to try to disrupt a dribble and maybe poke a ball free for a steal and fast break.
Getting out in transition will be how Walsh gets the bulk of his points. He has five steals so far this season, tied for second on the team with Derrick White. Walsh also has nine deflections, good for third. He's recovered three defensive loose balls, most on the team so far. All of that will help him get out and run, which is where his athleticism will give him an advantage.
If he can get those and knock down a few shots, then the Celtics have themselves a certified two-way player. He's 4-10 from three to start the season, 2-4 from the corners. It's impossibly early to make a determination about where his shooting is, but Walsh is happy to have defenses assume he can't make a shot.
"Still getting short closeouts and ignored. So that's perfect," Walsh joked. "I can take my time on every jump shot."
The flip side is that sagging defenses will clog up the lane and make life harder for someone like Jayson Tatum to drive and get to the rim, so Walsh is going to have to figure out how to make enough threes to get the defense's attention, and then start hitting them when those defenders actually respect his shot.
For help with that, he's turned to Paul George to get some advice.
"We talk about offense a lot, getting to your shot, being confident with it," Walsh said. But he also knows that defense is where his bread is buttered, and that George can be a big help there as well. "But there's certain closeout techniques and steal techniques that he does, I'm trying to pick up on as well, and so using that in games as well has been helpful."
Mazzulla spent last season cycling between Walsh, Scheierman, and Hugo Gonzalez as major contributors to the rotation. At the end of the season, Brad Stevens talked about the value of one of those forwards ascending and how that would have helped. With Walsh in the driver's seat right now, it looks like it's his job to lose, and his chance to ascend.
"He's starting for us, giving really good minutes," Sam Hauser said. "He defends his tail off every night and (is) definitely an improved shooter and improved offensive player as well. So it's fun to see young guys develop and kind of find their niche and figure out how to get on the floor and stay on the floor."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/celtics/onsi as Jordan Walsh is the Celtics' secret weapon nobody saw coming .
