Draft pick Williams quick to take the lead

Befitting his reputation, Grant Williams seems to have had his first NBA experience well thought out.

The young power forward was known for his leadership at Tennessee, and he’s put those intangibles to work over his first three days of summer league practice.

“He has some of those characteristics already as strengths, mainly communication and high IQ , being in the right place,” Celtics assistant Scott Morrison said after yesterday morning’s session at the Auerbach Center. “He’s been the most vocal player we have out there, kind of directing traffic, calling out coverages.”

Ultimately, of course, Williams will have to demonstrate that he can parlay an undersized 6-foot-7 frame into the NBA’s demands for swing forwards. He’ll have to develop his 3-point effectiveness and defend with versatility.

“Undersized bigs have to be ready to play every kind of coverage defensively, so it’s important to pick that stuff up and communicate with his teammates,” Morrison said. “The other thing is outside shooting, and that’s something we’ve worked on with him extra since he’s been here, and he’s knocked some down, so that’s good to see.”

Williams, though, has done a good job figuring these things out in advance.

“Honestly, they’re pretty level because my expectations were that it’s going to be a hard-working culture,” he said. “It’s going to be a place where you’re going to learn pretty quickly and they’re going to spend that hands-on time with you. It’s definitely the environment; you think about Boston as a sports city, so they’ve shown a lot of love, not only to myself, but to all the other players. I feel really welcome.”

Yabu gets in

Guerschon Yabusele ran through his first actions yesterday after being held out of the first two days of scrimmages so the coaching staff could get a better look at the newcomers. But this being his third summer league, Yabusele is expected to lead.

“You expect him to be a leader, first off, in this small group that we have,” Morrison said. “He knows a lot of the stuff in our system. There’s some stuff that’s new for everybody, but if you have that NBA experience usually you can pick up things quicker, which he’s doing.

“(He wasn’t out there) the first couple of days for precautionary reasons, but he picked things up pretty well today,” he said. “We had him go with the second group so we could see the first group we’ve used in training, but he was good with that.”

A larger role with the parent team is obviously the main objective for Yabusele.

Maine man

In addition to Kara Lawson, the Celtics have brought in assistant Joe Mazzula, who worked wonders developing talent on the staff of the Maine Red Claws.

Morrison, a former head coach in Maine, is proud.

“Hopefully, he retained everything he learned there,” Morrison joked. “Joe is a great addition to our staff. In Maine, we were lucky to have him. He showed a high strength and propensity for player development and also for relating to players and working with players off the court. That were some of the strengths that caught our eye in Maine.”