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The reconfiguration of the Boston Celtics’ personnel over the past two years has reshifted the team’s trajectory toward winning an NBA title. It also eradicated the colossal concerns looming over the Celtics’ backcourt after losing Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, 4-2 of its best-of-7 series to the Miami Heat.
Boston has come a long way since the days of the 2020 NBA Bubble. Brad Stevens was the head coach, Gordon Hayward was a featured player, and Kemba Walker was still an All-Star point guard.
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Now, all three are no longer on the Celtics’ bench. Still, Boston bounced back nicely due to many moves, including shifting Stevens to the front office, bringing in a new head coach in Ime Udoka while handing over the proverbial keys to the team’s offense to 2022’s Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart.
However, before all of that took place, former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge drafted Yam Madar with the 47th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
International Scout On Yam Madar: ‘He Stepped Up’
The 21-year-old prospect, who played for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League before signing with Partizan NIS Belgrade of the ABA League in 2021, is making headway. Speaking with an international scout under the condition of anonymity, Heavy.com uncovered an impressive update on Madar’s progression.
“He stepped up a level playing for Partizan this year, and obviously, it is tougher. That is a good team in the European leagues,” the international scout told Heavy.com. “So, his numbers were always going to take a step back, but he played better and better as the year went on, I thought. He is not a super crafty point guard, not a big playmaker, but he is a good set-up man; makes the right pass.”
He averaged 2.9 assists in 17.8 minutes a game, per Basketball-Reference.com; Madar’s adapting to the game as an efficient playmaker. He’s also gaining rich experience by playing in the Euro leagues, which has helped his outside touch of late.
Scout Says Madar’s Shooting ‘Should Earn Him a Spot’
In 2021-22, Yam’s 3-point percentage spiked upward to 48.8% on 2.6 attempts a game, per Basketball-Reference.com, which, according to one international scout, per Heavy.com, makes Madar an NBA-ready candidate for the 2022-23 campaign.
“He always showed he can be a very good shooter, that should earn him a spot on an NBA bench,” the scout added. “He made good strides with that. Defensively, he has a long way to go. But he’s similar in a lot of ways to Payton Pritchard. So, you have to wonder what his future in Boston is.”
Payton Pritchard, whose 41.2% 3-point touch edged out Grant Williams (41.1%) for the Celtics’ most efficient shooting percentage in 2021-22, made tremendous strides over the past two seasons. However, 3-point shooting on the Celtics is at a premium, and it’ll be interesting to see if Madar can crack Boston’s 2022-23 roster ahead of the regular season.
Madar averaged 11.9 points and 2.5 assists in three summer league games for Boston in 2021.
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