With picks #28 and #32 in a deep class, Boston could start replenishing what could be a talent-draining summer on Wednesday.
Congratulations to the Thunder on their first NBA championship!
(applause, applause)
But let’s start looking at next year. The NBA offseason started off even before Oklahoma City raised the Larry O’Brien with Kevin Durant getting traded to the Rockets, Desmond Bane joining the Magic, and late last night, the Celtics re-swapping Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two future second round picks.
There has been speculation swirling around Jrue Holiday’s future with the Celtics (including trades to Sacramento and Dallas) and whether or not Kristaps Porzingis will finish out the final year of his contract in green, too.
The Blogfather had some juicy predictions in his most recent SWAG piece and while teams can start dealing already, tomorrow’s draft might be the kickoff to what should be a very eventful summer. Armed with the #28 and #32 picks, it’s the cheapest way for the Celtics to bring in young, low-cost talent.
Our Ben Paradis has been tracking who’s been coming to the Auerbach Center for workouts and based on the invite list, Robby Fletcher speculates that Brad Stevens & Co. could be targeting a first round guard like Nolan Traore out of France and or Florida’s national champ Walter Clayton Jr.
With Al Horford and Luke Kornet entering free agency, the Celtics could be in the market for centers in this year’s class. Noa Dalzell has spoken to a few NBA insiders including former CelticsBlogger Kevin O’Connor who highlighted a pair of bigs, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner and Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber. No Ceilings’ Tyler Rucker likes Maxime Reynaud out of Stanford and former Wolverine Danny Wolf as potential additions to Boston’s frontcourt.
And with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown coming off lower body surgeries, maybe Boston sees an opportunity for a high-upside wing. Azad Rosay has his eyes on fellow Frenchman Noah Penda who many have compared to Paul Pierce.
With the Celtics picking so late in the first round, it’s hard to predict who they’ll select, at least betting-wise. Our friends over at FanDuel have the following five players at the end of the top-20:
- Alijah Martin (+6000)
- Johni Broome (+6000)
- Tyrese Proctor (+6000)
- RJ Luis Jr. (+7500)
- Eric Dixon (+7500)
At #28, Boston would most likely have to trade up to get one of those guys, but it’s possible packaging their own first plus #32 in the second round could move them into that mid-first range.
The NBA Draft starts Wednesday, June 25th at 8 pm with the first round followed by the second the following day.
UPDATE: Per Heavy’s Steve Bulpett, the Celtics are targeting Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis, a 6’6 point guard:
“It remains to be seen whether Boston can get up where they’d need to be to draft him, but there are definitely teams up high that are looking to trade back,” said one front office source as his and other clubs prepare for Wednesday’s first round of the draft. “The question is how far back those teams are willing to go and what Boston is willing to offer to get them to do it.”
Jakucionis is mocked all over the board — The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann has him at #12, Sam Vecenie at The Athletic pegged him at #8, and KOC has him at #22. Brad Stevens would most likely have to trade up to get him.