Boston’s stashed floor general continues to shine in the Israeli Premier League.
Sometimes, teams use the strategy of “stashing” a player in an overseas league while retaining their rights for more of a tool for cap management than for earnestly developing a prospect outright, but that couldn’t be further from the situation with Boston Celtics stashed floor general Yam Madar.
Playing overseas for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League since 2018, Madar still has two seasons left on his deal there that would otherwise require a buyout. But given the high level of competition and the Celtics’ current crunch of younger players, it’s a near-ideal situation for Madar as well as Boston.
We won’t be able to watch his progress quite as closely as if he were with the Maine Red Claws on a two way deal, but with that team’s season in question because of the pandemic and both two way deals already spoken for, watching games like this one will have to do.
Watch the video embedded above to see Madar hang 18 points and 4 assists on Maccabi Rishon courtesy this clip posted by Celtics fan videographer Tomasz Kordylewski — it seems the Israeli’s game is coming along nicely.
Get to know the game of Boston’s 47th pick of the 2020 NBA draft a little better with this clip.
Boston Celtics draft-and-stash point guard prospect Yam Madar will be staying with his current team — Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League — for at least another season as he finishes his contract with that team, an ideal fit for the Celtics’ need to stash a player ahead of the 2020 NBA draft.
For Celtics fans, it will be a bit of a challenge to see the growth of the next floor general in the team’s development pipeline, which might feel odd after having prospects like Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters either with the Maine Red Claws in the NBA’s G League or with the parent club last season.
But where there’s a will, there’s a way — and Celtics fan videographer Tomasz Kordelewski has put together some great highlight clips of the nascent Israeli floor general for our viewing enjoyment.
He flashes some real offensive savvy in this clip against Spain in the 2022 Eurobasket qualifiers, so watch the video embedded above if you want to know Madar a little better.
Check out the draft-and-stash prospect’s shooting drills ahead of the 2020 NBA draft in this clip.
Boston Celtics fans are by now very aware the team has a stash prospect in the Israeli Premier League named Yam Madar who plays the point, but if you asked for much more information about the 6-foot-3 floor general, you’d be more likely than not to get a shoulder shrug in response.
To that end, we thought we would share this clip of Madar doing pre-draft shooting exercises ahead of the draft the Celtics would end up selecting him with the 47th overall pick.
The Israeli guard isn’t just a throwaway selection because of the team’s overfull roster of rookies with some elite talent crowded at its top, but rather a legit prospect with NBA upside.
An excellent passer and budding marksman from 3-point range, Madar will remain with his current team Hapoel Tel-Aviv for at least another season given his deal with them runs another two seasons and would require an expensive buyout to come to the NBA.
But for a team that does indeed have a roster crunch to consider, that works out just fine; in the meantime, watch the video embedded above to get a better idea of what is waiting for the Celtics backcourt in seasons to come.
Check out the draft-and-stash prospect’s shooting drills ahead of the 2020 NBA draft in this clip.
Boston Celtics fans are by now very aware the team has a stash prospect in the Israeli Premier League named Yam Madar who plays the point, but if you asked for much more information about the 6-foot-3 floor general, you’d be more likely than not to get a shoulder shrug in response.
To that end, we thought we would share this clip of Madar doing pre-draft shooting exercises ahead of the draft the Celtics would end up selecting him with the 47th overall pick.
The Israeli guard isn’t just a throwaway selection because of the team’s overfull roster of rookies with some elite talent crowded at its top, but rather a legit prospect with NBA upside.
An excellent passer and budding marksman from 3-point range, Madar will remain with his current team Hapoel Tel-Aviv for at least another season given his deal with them runs another two seasons and would require an expensive buyout to come to the NBA.
But for a team that does indeed have a roster crunch to consider, that works out just fine; in the meantime, watch the video embedded above to get a better idea of what is waiting for the Celtics backcourt in seasons to come.
Get an eyeful of what Boston Celtics stash prospect Yam Madar is doing in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
The Boston Celtics drafted three prospects on the evening of November 18th, but only two were introduced as rookies by the team six days later, one of the trio to remain overseas while he grows his game — Israeli floor general Yam Madar.
By now, most of us are up to speed that he’s a very young point guard working his way towards the NBA, but still needs a little seasoning before making the leap.
He’ll remain in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (IBPL) for at least the coming season and possibly two, under contract with Hapoel Tel Aviv.
But can the kid play?
Be the judge of that for yourself with these two videos of Madar highlights against IBPL teams Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv put together by Tomasz Kordylewski embedded above.
While he still has plenty to work on, the kernel of a really good player is there, in at least our estimation.
Let’s learn a little about Boston’s 47th overall pick.
Who is this mysterious floor general who will spend at least his first season after being drafted by the Boston Celtics overseas, anyway?
We are speaking about Yam Madar, the 6-foot-3 floor general who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier league, and while one of the most important selling points was his stash-ability, he wasn’t just taken to stay out of the way.
Boston is by no means required to use a second-round pick on a player they intend to keep, given they are not required to be guaranteed.
They could have guaranteed a nominal amount — say $50,000 — to avoid jerking an undrafted prospect around, while having some flexibility should offseason moves open more spaces, for example.
“He’s a player that we’ve watched over there over in Israel play quite a bit,” explained team president Danny Ainge on draft night.
“We’ll just see how it works out. I don’t really know. The plan will probably be to keep him overseas for at least another year and evaluate from there, but we’re anxious see his growth and development as a player.”
Madar is under contract for two more seasons, and would require a pricey buyout if he were to come over before it ended.
But the plan may well be to let him continue to develop in one of Europe’s better leagues (yes, it is in Asia, but participates in the EuroLeague), where he’ll face near-NBA level of play without requiring a roster spot.
And his play?
Given he is very young — not even 20 — he is still raw on some areas, like ballhandling and consistent shooting, but with good size and fundamentals.
In last year’s European under-19 championships, Madar caught the attention of NBA scouts with a huge performance discussed by ESPN draft analyst Mike Schmitz:
“A virtual unknown outside of Israel coming into the event, Madar exploded for averages of 15.9 points and 7.7 assists in 31.1 minutes per game while shooting 53.1% from 2 and 47.6% from 3,” he explained.
“Even for those who had seen Madar before, his showing was eye-opening. With the frame of a young teen, the 6-foot-3 18-year-old appears closer to a mid-major recruit than an NBA hopeful at first glance. But over the course of seven games, Madar electrified the city and played an integral role in Israel winning its second consecutive gold medal, and he showed glimpses of NBA talent in the process.”
“Madar is fearless, tenacious and electric with the ball in his hands,” added the ESPN analyst.
From the sounds of things, Madar could very well be worth the wait.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.
Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.
This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.
However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.
Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.
This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.
Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.
This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.
Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.
The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.
This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.
Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.
The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.
Donatas Urbonas: NBA prospect Yam Madar confirms he has signed with CAA Sports. He’s currently training in Las Vegas for this year’s Draft. Madar has received strong interest from NBA teams following his impressive performance vs Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli League Playoffs, league sources say
