Who is Yam Madar, Danny Ainge’s draft-and-stash guard?

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.

But they wanted Madar’s rights for the future.

“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.

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