The Celtics have signed their No. 54 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft Anton Watson to a two-way contract, per a team social media post Friday afternoon.
The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach first broke the report hours earlier of the 23-year-old Gonzaga product. Watson averaged career highs of 14.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season while shooting 57.8% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range.
Watson, who averaged 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per contest during his five Celtics Summer League games, played solid defense in the frontcourt and shot 35% from behind the arc. The 6-foot-8 rookie forward had his best performance in a comeback 89-84 victory over the Hornets in Las Vegas last month.
"He's already an NBA level defender," head coach DJ MacLeay said of Watson following the win on July 17. "He has things that he's gotta work on on that side of the floor that we're trying to help him with, but if he can prove that he can knock downs those shots and shows an awareness to take them without a hesitation, he's gonna be a really good player for us and he provides a lot of versatility because of his switch-ability and his ability to guard the basketball. In general, we're really trying to build those habits in him and trying to encourage him. As you saw today, he made a couple. It looks good. I think that he can really shoot it and he needs to continue to believe that and shoot every time he gets an opportunity."
With a two-way deal, Watson is eligible to appear in up to 50 NBA games, but he'll likely spend most of his rookie season with the Maine Celtics of the G League despite possible minutes becoming available in Boston with Kristaps Porzingis (ankle surgery) could reportedly be out for the first two months of the 2024-25 campaign.
Watson will join JD Davison and Drew Peterson as the Celtics have filled all three of their two-way roster spots for the upcoming season.
Joel Pavón
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