Yam Madar

Yam Madar, Boston Celtics – 47^th overall

31 G, 16.6 PTS, 2.7 REB, 5.2 AST, 1.3 STL, 0.4 BLK, 2.9 TOV | 46.1 FG%, 42.0 3P%, 86.4 FT%, 53.6 eFG% (for Hapoel Tel Aviv)

The last draft-and-stash prospect of this draft class, Madar has made a strong case to join the Celtics next season. He has improved almost every part of his game since being drafted and could fill a need for the Celtics in the backcourt, who are lacking playmakers. Madar is an active and tenacious defender who is not afraid to switch onto bigger perimeter players. He is a good playmaker and drastically improved his shooting, which was a concern for him. His three-point percentage improved from 26.7% to 42% while taking almost two more attempts per game, from 2.7 to 4.5. In February, Madar filed a lawsuit against Hapoel due to a disagreement regarding the contractual terms for his release. It might be best for him to make the jump to the NBA considering his development and conflict with Hapoel.

After the coronavirus halt in Israel, Yam strengthened his position in the starting 5 and quickly reignited his game with every performance better than the previous one, raising his stock considerably. It looked like Hapoel Tel Aviv was preparing an upset for us with Yam on the forefront leading the team in points and assists in the first round. But, after forcing game 3 they couldn’t seal the deal even versus badly wounded Maccabi without Yovel Zoosman and Scottie Wilbekin. Yam was expected to withdraw his name from draft to prepare for another year, but after such an impressive performance in this tournament he could be snatched in the second round. Maintained his image of a pesky, very tenacious and rapid guard and would be arguably one of the best on-ball defenders in the draft. Even managed to terrorize bigger players like Avdija forcing a lot of mistakes, but he still needs to add more muscle to his frame in order to physically compete with the best guards in the world day in and day out. His transition game, smooth touch on finishes and ability to facilitate the ball will nicely translate to another level, but his outside shot is still lacking consistency.  

THE BREAKOUT

Yam Madar. U20s may be the least exciting event when it comes to the discoveries but can be the most interesting as far as breakout performances. Gap in physical development levels off and minutes played with professional team can make given player look like a pro among juniors. Maybe that is why Yam Madar was arguably the most positive surprise of the tournament. Backup point guard of Hapoel Tel Aviv which competes in Shlomo Group Arena on a weekly basis in Israeli Winners League clearly felt there like at home. 

2000 born guard was secondary contributor and perfect fit next to Avdija given his talent and ability to play off the ball. It is really rare asset to shoot well off the catch for someone who creates opportunities for himself on the perimeter at will and is efficient in executing them too. Also blend of scoring and playmaking allowed him to be the main guy for short stretches that Deni spent on the bench. Madar possess insane speed, smooth moves, good shiftiness and body control + flair to hit tough attempts. He truly has a spark to create out of nothing and connects court vision and killer instincts on rare high level. While he is flamboyant offensive presence it gets worse on the other end of the floor. Lateral speed is obviously nice but he like to gamble and his frame is somewhat frail. 

Anyway Madar was almost two year younger than some of the other participants and may still have more room to improve physically than others. We will see if he is eventually built to play more than 80 games per year against elite athletes in this world but wherever he ends up can possibly be fans favourite given his super brave and enjoyable to watch style.