Getty Images Zeke Nnaji #22 of the Denver Nuggets loses the ball as he drives into Aaron Nesmith #26 of the Boston Celtics as Yam Madar #28 of the Celtics defends during the 2021 NBA Summer League
Boston Celtics’ Yam Madar is heading overseas. After a promising start at Las Vegas Summer League, Boston’s 2020 second-round draftee suffered a groin injury that ended his summer in Vegas and is now transferring from Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv to Partizan NIS.
According to Eurohoops.com, Madar signed a three-year deal with the Serbian basketball club. The 20-year-old prospect is expected to remain draft-and-stashed throughout 2021-22.
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Yam made an immediate impact in an 85-83 win over the Atlanta Hawks in his Summer League debut — where he finished with eight points, two rebounds, and two assists in 17 minutes. It provided some optimism for Celtics fans hoping that the international sensation who earned the nickname “The Israeli Steph Curry” was on the path to reaching the NBA.
Yam Madar Turns Down Celtics’ 2-Way Contract
According to Sport5’s Eran Soroka, the Celtics offered Madar a two-way contract, which was turned down. Boston will retain Yam’s NBA rights and could bring him back to the states if they choose to buy him out of his current deal.
Madar averaged 4.7 points, 1.7 rebounds in three games.
The Summer League Celtics’ season ended on a sour note. The Sacramento Kings dominated Boston in the championship game, where the Celtics lost in blowout fashion, 100-67.
Davion Mitchell, Kings Crush Payton Pritchard, Celtics in Summer League Final
Not even Payton Pritchard could save the young C’s. Fresh off scoring a combined showstopping 149 points in two outings at the Portland Pro-Am basketball league, Pritchard returned from his excused absence from the team to compete against Baylor University standout Davion Mitchell and the Sacramento Kings.
End-to-end with Davion.
The ninth overall pick in this year’s draft not only spent the night putting the defensive clamps on Pritchard; he and the Kings coerced Payton to commit six turnovers while shooting 0-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc. Boston’s offense struggled mightily.
They shot at a 39% clip from the floor, including 19.4% from deep, where they connected on 7-of-36 attempts and finished with an absurd 28 turnovers.
“29, don’t sell us short,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said in reference to what he believed was an outdated box score. “They had active hands, great ball pressure. I thought coming into the game we were pretty much the same exact team as far as physicality and the way they ran in transition. They pretty much beat us at our own game today.”
⭐️MVPs⭐️
@hoopculture13 of the @SacramentoKings and @24_camthomas of the @BrooklynNets named Co-MVPs of MGM Resorts NBA Summer League!
Kings’ Louis King led Sacramento with a game-high 21 points, including 3-of-8 from deep, and 5 steals, Jahmi’us Ramsey added 16 points, and Mitchell finished with 9 points and 7 assists. Carsen Edwards’ 15 points led the Celtics, Aaron Nesmith poured in a dozen points and Pritchard scored six points, to go with his 8 assists and 6 rebounds.
Coach Mazzulla talked about Pritchard’s struggles during his media availability.
“I could have put him in better spots vs. the blitz for him to make the right read,” Mazzulla said after the game. “Davion’s a great defender. Payton’s a great player and it’s just two good teams going at it. I think they got the best of us, I don’t think there’s much more than that.”
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