Did Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens stumble upon another proverbial diamond in the rough by adding another recent young undrafted player?
Second-year Boston reserve forward Drew Peterson, currently on a two-way deal after going undrafted out of USC in 2023, had two big games for the club with All-Star small forward Jaylen Brown and All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White both shelved due to injuries recently.
Peterson notched consecutive career highs in minutes, logging 25 minutes in the Celtics' 115-111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 1 and 26 minutes in Boston's subsequent 108-89 victory over the Miami Heat the very next night.
Per Taylor Snow of Celtics.com, Peterson also scored a career-high eight points against Cleveland, on 2-of-6 shooting from the field (2-of-5 from long range) and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, along with four rebounds, and one steal. Against Miami, Peterson scored seven points on 2-of-5 shooting from deep (all triple tries) and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, grabbed seven boards, and dished out one dime.
In six games this year, the 6-foot-9 former Trojan, 25, is averaging 2.5 points on .333/.364/.750 shooting splits and 2.2 rebounds per bout. Peterson has also played six Tip-Off Tournament games for Boston's G League affiliate this season, the Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws), he's averaging 17.8 points on .444/.310/.857 shooting splits, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.
Peterson was a floor-spacing big man during his NCAA tenure at USC and Rice.
Celtics starting center Kristaps Porzingis, who's still working his way back from an injury himself, singled out Peterson's play as an encouraging sign that he could be a real NBA piece.
“It was great to see him out there,” Porzingis said after the Cavaliers game. “I told him right away to look for his stuff because he’s a good offensive player, and he wasn’t shy all night long. He shot his shots, played good defense, and showed his game. In a high-level game like this, it was really cool to see.”
Porzingis has played just five games for Boston this season following a summer surgery. He's averaging 20.6 points on a .459/.343/.793 slash line, 7.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.0 steals a game.
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