What Celtics Fans Should Expect From Nik Stauskas
Dakota Schmidt breaks down what Celtics fans should expect from new call up and former Grand Rapids Gold guard Nik Stauskas.
On Thursday night, ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Boston Celtics had signed Grand Rapids Gold guard Nik Stauskas to a two-year deal. This makes a return to the NBA as the former lottery pick has played with the Kings, Trail Blazers, and Cavaliers prior to this season. Back in late December, the Miami Heat picked up the 28-year-old to a 10-day deal. Shortly after that contract expired, he made his return to the G League and Grapids, wan organization he joined after being waived by Denver after the end of NBA training camp.
The news of Boston signing Stauskas comes a day after he scored a combined 100 points in two games against the Wisconsin Herd and Lakeland Magic. In the Tuesday night performance at home versus the Herd, the NBA veteran put up a career-high 57 point, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists on an outrageous 20-29 from the field, 11-15 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line. Just 24 hours later, he almost matched that brilliance by scoring 43 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists on 16-21 from the field, 9-13 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the free throw line for Grand Rapids in their victory against the Lakeland Magic.
While those two jaw-dropping perfomances honestly stand as the pinnacle of his playing career so far, a mix of efficiency and volume has been part of him this season. Since the start of 2022, Stauskas averaged 26 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists on 51% from the field and 47% from beyond the arc on 8.4 attempts per game in a total of 14 games. Those averages allowed him to maintain a 63% effective Field Goal Percentage and a very nice 69% True Shooting Percentage, which both ranked in the top-10 among G League guards.
Moving away from stats to breaking down his film, Stauskas was an absolute menace for Grand Rapids no matter if he started a possession as an off-ball guard or he was taking the ball up the floor by himself after collecting the defensive board. To be honest, it’s harder to think of anyone in the G League that was better than Nik when it came to utilizing off-ball movement to get his open look.
Of course, movement is common for any guard or wing looking to get into their spot on the court before they throw up a shot. However, our subject sometimes seemed to stand above the norm throuh how he utilized his feet as a weapon meant to create separation between him and his defender. A prime example of that is seen in the clip below where Stauskas goes right towards Petr Cornelie, making the defender believe he’s going for a dribble handoff, before quickly breaking left towards the corner. That sudden movement makes the Lakeland defender stumble and gives Stauskas the space to hit the wide open corner 3.
Coinciding with the misdirection that you see above, Gold head coach Jason Terry put our subject in a lot of dribble handoffs with Cornelie or another Grand Rapids big, which fit Nik like peanut butter fits with jelly. That fit and his genuine comfort within those situations alowed him to maintain a stellar 64% effective Field Goal Percentage on a total of 103 catch-and-shoot attempts, according to Synergy Sports.
Sticking with the ways that Stauskas has impressed as a shooter during his run with Grand Rapids, the 6’5 guard was no stranger to being able to create his own shot. The most common avenue that he was able to get his shot off as an off-the-dribble threat wasutilizing screen as the veteran did a great job of either slowing maneuvering around them to get his man caught or tricking them with a simple rejection to create the space that he needed to launch up a long-range bomb.
While the pride of Mississauga has been known for his work as a perimeter threat, he can also create his slick handles to create separation from his man and get to his own spot. An example of that is shown below where he goes right before switching hands, drives left before getting to his spot, stepping back and throwing up the beautiful jumper over the right hand of the defender. While the Magic man did a great job of defending him, that stepback mixed with the height that the 6’6 guard gets on his jumper makes it an incredibly tough shot for any opponent to defend.
Stauskas being a 6’6 guard that is able to create his own shot made him an incredibly tough player for any G League defender to try and guard. Along with the above gif, the proof is shown by how he maintain a 58% effective Field Goal Percentage on 187 total off-the-dribble shots. That tremenous efficiency is anchored by him shooting 39% on 104 total perimeter attempts.
Coinciding with his excellent work as a catch or off-the-dribble shooting threat, the NBA veteran also impressed as a distributor. Averaging 4.8 assists per game with a solid 2.39 assist to turnover ratio. A lot of those assists came when he was receiving the ball in the middle of the possession and had to make a quick decision. As you can tell from that solid assist to turnover ratio, those decisions were good more times than not.
While a lot of the time that choice simply represented him swinging the ball around the perimeter, the veteran has showed a real knack of working with his man in side pick-and-rolls or even penetrating and kicking it out to the open man. That diversity of moves along with his efficiency marks him as a man that you can depend on to make the right decisions more times than not in mid to late shot clock decisions.
Those two traits allowed him to shine as one of the premier scorers in the G League prior to his call-up. While struggles as an on-ball driver held him back during his initial run in the NBA and even his run with Grand Rapids, that shouldn’t be that much of a concern with the Celtics.
On a talented Celtics roster, Stauskas shouldn’t be asked to do much due to the talented playmakers that the team possessions. That should be a great opportunity for the 28-year-old, who will be in a position where the defense’s attention won’t be directed at him. That will give him the freedom to off-ball and finidh his spots for catch-and-shoots. In the rare moments where he does have the ball in mid or late shot clock situations, Stauskas has the track record to prove that he can be relied upon to make the right decision.
All of that is why I’m incredibly confident that Nik Stauskas should be a good fit for the Boston Celtics as a veteran wing that can be a positive impact to the offensive production of their 2nd unit. While that may considered to be disappointing given his status as a former lottery pick, it would be a phenomenal end to an incredibly hectic 2021-22 season.