BOSTON – Just imagine former Celtic Tony Allen (now with the Memphis Grizzlies), but with more control and a better jump shot?
In many ways that’s the story on Virginia’s Justin Anderson, who is among the players on the Celtics radar leading into the June 25 NBA draft.
Anderson, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound guard/forward, said he will work out for the Celtics on June 1.
Most mock drafts have Anderson as a solid first-round selection who is likely to fall somewhere between the Celtics’ two first-round picks at 16th and 28th.
Anderson had a chance to sit down with the Celtics brass, which included coach Brad Stevens, at the pre-draft combine in Chicago earlier this month.
“What stuck out to me most, is him [Stevens] and his relationship with his guys,” Anderson said when I asked him about the meeting with Boston. “Just coming out of college, playing for him would be similar to playing for coach [Tony] Bennett.”
Virginia has been among the nation’s top teams defensively and Anderson has been the team's top defender.
Boston Celtics
At the college level, his size and strength allowed him to defend bigger post players at times. But Anderson’s lateral quickness and elite athleticism also caused fits when he had to guard smaller players, too.
And with a much-improved perimeter game, which saw him shoot better than 45 percent on 3s this past season, there's the potential for him to be a solid two-way talent at the next level.
But in his preparation for the draft, Anderson understands there are other parts of his game that he needs to showcase as well.
“I just want to continue to fine tune my ball-handling, my decision making with the ball, active coming off ball screens and just learn terminology,” Anderson said. “I want to make sure I get that down pat for whatever team chooses me.”
When asked about why a team should draft him, Anderson said, "I have a track record of being part of a program that has great tradition. I’m all about winning.”
And in college, he proved he could do it in different roles.
As a sophomore, he came off the bench and earned the ACC's Sixth Man of the Year award. Thrust into a more prominent role a year later, he was named to the all-ACC second team despite missing games near the end of the season due to a broken pinky in his left (shooting) hand as well as an emergency appendectomy.
Anderson is an attractive target because his greatest strength – versatility – is proving to be a hot commodity in the NBA among the elite teams.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is the league’s MVP, but some of the most talked-about players this season were his teammate Draymond Green, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and the reigning NBA Finals MVP (and most recently named NBA Defensive Player of the Year) Kawhi Leonard – three players who don’t necessarily fit neatly at any one particular position, but have managed to become high-impact players by doing a lot of things well.
It’s no surprise that Anderson envisions himself following a similar path.
“I want to be able to be that guy that does it all,” Anderson said. “It’s a new wave of players that’s doing that at a high level; [Golden State’s] Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard...those guys can guard multiple positions but knock down open jumpers and get better on the offensive end as the years go on.”
Anderson was among those to post impressive numbers at the pre-draft combine in the physical testing portion of the week.
Along with having just five percent body fat, his wing span measured 7-feet.
His time of 2.88 seconds in the shuttle run (it tests your agility and ability to change direction) was fourth-best among those tested.
And his 43-inch max vertical leap was second only to Arlington, Mass., native and former Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton, whose vertical leap at the pre-draft combine was 44 inches (he, too, is expected to work out for the Celtics prior to the NBA draft).
The talent alone makes Anderson a no-brainer as a player Boston would consider drafting.
Add in the temperament and his admiration for Stevens, and it seems to make him an even more ideal fit.
“He’s a player’s coach for sure,” Anderson said of Stevens. “I [saw] what he did at Butler. And also the tradition there; and I love tradition. I love coming into a program where they’re all about winning. And they try to find ways to win every single day no matter what. I think that young program is on the rise.”