Jordan Walsh enters his fourth NBA season with a clear message: he wants more, and he knows the Celtics need more from him too.
While watching a summer league game in Las Vegas, Walsh said, “I'm trying to change my identity offensively,” he said while taking in a summer league game in Las Vegas. “I'm trying to become a better, way better offensive player.
I'm trying to fit in situations that I didn't fit in last year. I'm trying to be the answer to the situations that they took me out of.”
That ambition comes with some runway. Walsh has already locked in at least a couple more years in Boston after signing a three-year, $16 million extension this summer, with the third year a team option.
For a second-round pick, even reaching this point is a major success. But Walsh doesn’t sound interested in simply hanging around.
He wants to matter when the game tightens.
“When those moments come, I want to always be the best option. I want to be the best choice,” he said. “[That means] working on my shot, working on my handle, working on creating my own shot when I have those pockets.”
The challenge is that Walsh is still very young - he won’t turn 23 until March - and his career minutes total is lower than what Neemias Queta played last season alone. So there’s still time to grow into something bigger. But there’s also a point where the league starts asking for a shape, not just potential, and Walsh is getting close to that line.
His case is tricky. It feels early to pin down exactly what he’ll become, yet late enough that the broad outlines of his role should already be coming into focus.
Hugo Gonzalez, for example, is still raw and lost minutes late last season, but there’s still a buzz around his future. Walsh, meanwhile, flashed real value last season, especially on defense, and had an early stretch that got people’s attention.
But the momentum faded, and he couldn’t keep his place in the rotation. Baylor Scheierman may have moved ahead of him on the depth chart, though nothing is locked in.
That leaves Walsh in a familiar spot: trying to grow while also figuring out what the Celtics actually need from him. The big question is whether his offensive push can coexist with the kind of low-usage role that might keep him on the floor. Does trying to become more make him better, or does it tempt him to do too much?
For Walsh, balance may decide the season. He has to improve, but he also has to understand the job in front of him.
The mental side has been his biggest hurdle. His tendency to speed up and get swept into the moment has been a problem.
The best players - the kind Walsh wants to become - control the tempo. Walsh, at times, looks like he’s running on a Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten all-syrup super-squishee bender.
Defensively, though, he already brings something real. Walsh is an elite individual defender and can carve out a long career simply by disrupting the point of attack.
If he adds corner shooting and can punish the occasional close-out, that becomes a valuable package for Boston. Last season he shot 37.8% on corner threes, while Scheierman hit 49.4%.
The Celtics are not going to overload him. In the halfcourt, he needs to screen well, read the floor, stay in position, protect the ball, hit open shots, and move it along when the defense takes something away. The formula is straightforward.
What also has to clean up is the fouling. Walsh finished seventh on the team in minutes but fourth in total fouls.
Sure, strong defenders often collect a few extra whistles, but Derrick White played more than twice as many minutes and had 18 fewer fouls. Walsh needs a better middle ground.
So the picture is pretty clear: the Celtics can count on the defense. The rest depends on whether his shooting and decision-making can catch up to his best traits.
There’s reason for skepticism after three seasons, but there’s also still room for growth. The chances will come.
Whether Walsh turns them into minutes will come down to focus and consistency.
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