Celtics Forward Opens Up About Ongoing Summer League Slump

Jordan Walsh is struggling to connect from 3-point range in Summer League, producing a stunning output for the second-year Boston Celtics forward.

Walsh, so far, has gone 0-for-22 from three and went 0-for-10 during Friday night’s exhibition against the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas. The 20-year-old, who the Celtics drafted last year out of Arkansas as a defensive-first forward, isn’t allowing the slump to overtake his offensive approach.

“I would say the focus has never changed,” Walsh told reporters after Friday night’s Summer League loss to the Mavericks, per CLNS Media. “I’m always going to take my open shots. Whether they go in or not, I’m gonna take them. I just gotta make the defense respect me. I feel like my focus is being more toward being a defender and guarding and playing the right way. So even if I make or miss shots, I’m not really predicated on that. My games not really dependent on that so I’m trying to find other ways to be active.”

Boston played Walsh for 30 minutes in the starting lineup against the Mavericks, and regardless of the shooting woes, he remained engaged, energetic and determined to produce in other areas. Walsh finished with 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, dished out four assists and recorded two steals in the 101-90 loss.

Heading into his second year in the NBA, Walsh intends to emphasize maintaining the proper mindset, specifically when undergoing struggles of all sorts.

“I feel like it’s getting better,” Walsh said of his mentality, per CLNS Media. “It’s gonna take a while, but I feel like I’m making strides to being better and letting it go.”

Walsh didn’t get much of an opportunity to make an impression with the Celtics last season, limited to nine games with the team, including just one start — in which Walsh logged 17:08 of playing time and scored one point. He spent most of the 2023-24 run playing for Boston’s G League affiliate in Maine, averaging 14.6 points on 42.6% shooting from the floor, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 27 games.

Maintaining an “onto the next play” mentality might not show up in the box score for Walsh, but it catches the eye of Boston’s coaching staff.

“He played really, really hard today,” coach D.J. MacLeay said, per CLNS Media. “I think he’s doing the best he can defensively, and I think that he had a good game on that end. The shots come and go, it’s a small sample. You just gotta stay with the process. Keep shooting, keep shooting the right ones and go from there.”