Jay Scrubb has taken an unorthodox path to his chance at the NBA. But he knows he has a great opportunity right now, and he’s hoping to turn it into something significant during Summer League with the Celtics.
Scrubb took a road less traveled as he played two seasons at John A. Logan College, junior college in Illinois. But the 6-foot-5 guard did enough there to be noticed and earn a selection by the Nets in the second round of the 2020 draft. After a few stops – and some NBA minutes – he landed with the Celtics this summer.
“It was a crazy transition for me, going from junior college to the league, but I feel like my talent speaks for itself,” Scrubb said Sunday in an interview on NBA TV. “I can compete with the best, and I’m here.”
Scrubb turned some heads over the Celtics’ first two Summer League games this weekend with an array of impressive scoring moves. Coming off the bench in both games, Scrubb scored 17 points in Saturday’s loss to the Heat before scoring 15 – including 12 in the first half – of Sunday’s loss to the Wizards. He had the play of the day on Saturday with a steal and transition dunk in the first half and continued to get to the rim at ease on Sunday. He’s making an early case to stick with the Celtics potentially on a two-way contract if he can continue to play like this over the next week.
“Just confidence in myself, there’s a lot of great guys out here competing,” Scrubb said on NBA TV. “I just want to show that I’m one of the best players here. That’s all I really want.”
The Celtics announced during Sunday’s game that point guard J.D. Davison – their second-round pick in 2022 – was signed to a two-way contract for his second season.
Davison was also on a two-way deal last season as he spent the majority of his rookie year with the Maine Celtics, and the C’s will hope their young point guard can continue to develop in his second season. He’s been up and down during Summer League play so far. He dished out 11 assists on Saturday, but committed 10 turnovers to nine assists in Sunday’s loss.
Paul Pierce was in the building in Las Vegas for the Celtics’ Summer League game on Sunday, and the C’s legend shed some of his thoughts on his team in the wake of the trade that sent Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies and brought Kristaps Porzingis to Boston.
“The roster looks good,” Pierce said on NBA TV. “The main thing is you got Jayson (Tatum) there and hopefully Jaylen Brown signs a long-term deal, you bring in Porzingis. So, I’m a little disappointed in getting rid of Smart but maybe some change was needed. But hopefully it can help them get over the top.”
Pierce was asked how the Celtics fill the void left by Smart.
“It has to be filled from a number of guys,” Pierce said. “I think it’s time for Jayson Tatum to step up to a bigger leadership role along with Jaylen Brown and be a bigger voice in the locker room. I think it’s that time and I think if he’s able to do that, it’ll carry the team a long way.”
And it was no surprise who Pierce thinks is the early favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference next season.
“No bias, it has to be the Celtics,” Pierce said. “I mean, I think they got the best player in the conference. Between Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum. Hopefully you bring back Brown and add Porzingis, a guy who really had a great year for Washington last year, so I have to say the odds on favorite has to be the Celtics.”
The details of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament – coined the NBA Cup – were announced this weekend. The competition includes two stages, beginning with group play – all 30 teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on last season’s standings – and then the knockout stage. Each team will play four designated group play games – two home, two road – with the six group winners advancing to the knockout round along with two wild card teams, The knockout stage will consist of single-elimination games starting with the quarterfinals on Dec. 4 and 5 before the semifinals and championship on Dec. 7 and 9, which will take place in Las Vegas.
Every team will continue to play a normal 82-game regular season schedule. All in-season tournament games will count toward the regular season standings except for the championship.
The Celtics were drawn into East Group C, which also includes the Nets, Raptors, Bulls and Magic.
Grant Williams posted farewell messages on his social media channels this weekend following his trade last week to the Mavericks after he played his first four seasons with the Celtics.
Williams posted on Twitter: “To the Celtics, the city and my brothers: Thank you for your belief in me and support through all of our seasons of basketball and life. I’m beyond grateful to have been a part of this organization & will forever have love for the people that surrounded me in this experience.” …
The Celtics were among multiple teams who attended a private workout for veteran free agent point guard John Wall on Sunday, according to The Athletic. The 32-year-old Wall, a five-time All-Star, is hoping to land with a team after spending last season with the Clippers.