The Celtics rewarded JD Davison with his long-awaited first NBA contract on Saturday, according to ESPN, solidifying the 15th spot on the team’s roster and making him playoff-eligible after his third season mostly spent with the Maine Celtics on a two-way contract. Davison will earn just over $26,000 for the one game he’s credited for, which reduces the hefty tax (x3.75) penalties Boston faced for filling its final roster spot to just under $100,000.
“Knowing where I want to get to, if you want to be a point guard in this league, you gotta be able to talk and lead the guys,” Davison said earlier this month. “So, knowing that I gotta do that, night in and night out, I gotta break that (shyness) and try to be the best I can be. Just knowing everybody’s journey is different, I take my days, day-by-day, step-by-step and try to stay in the moment, whether I’m playing in the G-League or whether I’m up with the big club. Trying to just stay in the moment and be me at all times … knowing the end goal.”
Brad Stevens left an open spot on the Celtics’ roster for most of the season, as Boston often does, for tax-saving and flexibility purposes. The Celtics similarly converted Neemias Queta from a two-way to a standard, long-term contract late last year with no future guarantees into the future before coming to terms on a new contract with Queta over the summer. Davison’s deal is reportedly a two-year contract that stretches through next season, keeping him around next summer with a chance to make next year’s team in camp.
Davison, 22, made the rare move of signing a third straight two-way contract with the team that drafted him, and immediately showed himself overqualified for G-League competition, earning the league’s MVP honors by averaging 25.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game on 48.1% shooting. Maine advanced to the east finals in the G-League playoffs behind his 32 points and 17 rebounds against Westchester. Yet NBA opportunities rarely came his way through the years, finishing 0-for-6 in 16 minutes on a rest night for Boston in Orlando on Wednesday. He joined Boston on the fly more often this year, though, and Stevens prioritized retaining him last summer. Davison became Stevens’ first draft pick to join the organization, No. 53 overall, in 2022.
He would’ve been ineligible to sign another two-way with the Celtics this summer, and with difficult roster decisions ahead this summer, there’s at least a chance Davison could factor into the team’s future plans in the back court now. While likely a credit to the way he stabilized Maine’s development program in recent years, making the team’s playoff roster did come as some surprise after fellow two-way forward Drew Peterson appeared and succeeded in tangible NBA spots earlier in the season. Late addition Miles Norris also had the size and shooting advantage over Davison, greater NBA needs, though Boston begins the playoffs with its health and depth in a good place. The 15th roster spot decision didn’t become a consequential one.
Davison’s second-year will be worth just short of $3 million. It’s unclear how guaranteed it is, but the structure of similar contracts maintained roster flexibility for the Celtics through non-guarantees or team options. Davison rounds out Boston’s playoff guard depth chart behind Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard.
“I think his leadership has evolved from a 20-year-old,” Maine’s GM Jarell Christian told CLNS Media last month. “I think the thing that’s unique about JD is he’s been the one constant among the coaching staff that’s changed every year, and the thing that’s different … the game plan and all of that against the Boston Celtics is based around wings, JT, JB, where here, it’s a lot of the point guard being the dominant ball-handler and creating for a lot of different people. It’s different … but I think the biggest thing with him is his growth and his leadership and his maturity. He’s been able to do it year-in and year-out. He’s come a long way from a rookie.”
