What Joe Mazzulla Expects Out Of Newest Celtic Drew Peterson

BOSTON -- Not many probably remember Drew Peterson scoring 13 points on the Celtics in Summer League action a few months ago.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla did.

Peterson obviously showed the Celtics enough in that contest that they felt he would fit in well with Boston, which announced the signing of Peterson to a two-way contract on Thursday.

"He played really well in the Summer League. He had a good game against us," Mazzulla said prior to the Celtics facing the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. "Just his ability to shoot. You take a look at Sam (Hauser) and what he's done. The more times you can plug guys into a specific role of what they can become over time, and you see it work into fruition. ... We'll just look to develop him."

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The 6-foot-9, 205-pound wing played in 13 games this season for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the G League affiliate of the Miami Heat. He tallied 15.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 33.8 minutes per game.

But his biggest asset, and the one that certainly caught Mazzulla's eye, is Peterson's 3-point shooting. The 24-year-old USC product knocked down 40.7% of his 3-pointers this season. He also shot 38.7% for his career with the Trojans.

It is a low-risk, high-reward move for the Celtics. If they can unlock Peterson's shooting ability and carve out a role for him -- either this season or in the future -- he could follow the same path of Hauser, who like Peterson went undrafted but is now shooting over 40% from 3-point range this season.

And if Peterson comes anywhere close to that, it will be another good find by Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens.