The Celtics picked Gonzaga forward Anton Watson with the No. 54 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft Thursday evening.
Watson, 6-foot-8 inch, 225-pound forward averaged 14.5 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Bulldogs last season. He shot 57.8 percent from the field last season, which was third in the WCC.
He is second on Gonzaga’s all-time steals list, trailing only John Stockton. He was a First Team All-WCC selection.
Watson was a four-star recruit in high-school, ranked No. 41 nationally by 247Sports. He attended high school in Spokane, Wash. and decided to stay close to home for college by choosing Gonzaga.
“I really like him,” GM Brad Stevens said. “I think we didn’t talk as much about him specifically, we talked more about (first-round pick) Baylor (Scheierman), but Anton’s strength and his ability to move his feet laterally give him a chance to be one of those big, strong, hybrid forwards that can switch and guard a lot of people.”
Watson showed steady improvement on his 3-point shot throughout his college career. He shot 11.1 percent from beyond the arc during his freshman season, and worked his way up to 41.2 percent last season.
He only took 1.5 3-pointers per game for Gonzaga last season, but Stevens wants him to ramp that number up.
“I want him to come in here with the mindset that he’s going to let it fly like he’s never let it fly before,” Stevens said. “Because I think he’s a better shooter than he sometimes thinks he is, and so I’m looking forward to getting him in here.”
Watson and Scheierman are both 23. They’ve spent a long time in college compared to some of the one-and-dones taken earlier in the draft.
When asked if he was specifically looking for older, experienced players to compliment this Celtics group, Stevens said:
“I think you’re looking at what’s available when you draft. We all thought really highly of Baylor and we’re excited that he dropped to No. 30, and then in the second round, similar thing with Anton. I think that those guys both are winning players. They’ve played in a lot of big moments, in a lot of big games, and big environments.”
The Celtics’ only draft pick last year was Jordan Walsh, who was 19 at the time. Stevens said having a mix of older and younger prospects is a good thing.
“First of all, I think guys are playing longer. 23 and 24 are still young in the big picture of things,” Stevens said. “I think that both of those guys have shown growth throughout their careers so you would anticipate they would continue to grow … So, we have some young guys that we think really highly of and I do think that it’s good to have a balance of that.”
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