With the 2015 NBA draft in the rear-view mirror, here's a recap of what the Celtics were able to accomplish.
The draft is obviously one of the best opportunities for a team to add talent to its roster. And while the Celtics exceeded expectations this season, its roster could still use some serious work. The Celtics owned four picks in this years draft; the 16th, the 28th, 33rd, and the 45th. Before draft night it was clear that Ainge was attempting to trade up into the top 10 picks. Almost all of the players on the Celtics radar were not falling to 16, and the C's were ready to put its vault of future draft picks on the table if the opportunity to move up became available. Well, it never did, at least not at the right price. At the end of the night the Celtics had kept its own picks, using them to draft Terry Rozier, R.J. Hunter, Jordan Mickey, and Marcus Thornton. Sad to say this was definitely the worst case scenario for the Celtics, they didn't move up and none of their desired pick fell. When the smoke cleared Celtics fans were left disappointed, and rightfully so.
Before draft night the Celtics had already looked at many different trade options. One rumored offer was focused around Marcus Smart and the 16th pick to the 76ers for Nerlens Noel and the 3rd pick. It is unclear whether this rumor is true but the Celtics were actively trying to move up in this draft into any spot they could find available. It is also unclear who the Celtics would be interested in had they traded up that high. However, there was a short list of players whom the Celtics were interested in drafting, that list included Willie Cauley-Stein, Miles Turner, and Trey Lyles. All three of those players fit what is probably the Celtics biggest need, athleticism in the front court. The Celtics have little to no rim protection on their roster and they were hoping one of these three could fill that void. Cauley-Stein was probably the best bet to do that, 7'1" and insanely athletic he's a natural shot blocker. Cauley-Stein is also versatile enough to switch onto ball handlers, a very important skill in todays NBA. With more teams moving toward a Spurs-like spread pick and roll offensive scheme, having defenders to negate that by switching pick and rolls is very valuable. Cauley-Stein would have been a great fit for the Celtics, there was some suspicion that he could fall to reachable on the day of the draft, and then the Kings broke those dreams by taking him at 6.
Along with rim protection the Celtics were also looking to add wing scoring in this draft. Two names that come to mind are Stanley Johnson and Justice Winslow. To have a chance at either of these players the Celtics would have to move into the top 10, and that is what they tried to do. The Celtics best chance of moving up was with the Charlotte Hornets who owned the 9th pick. With Justice Winslow still on the board the Celtics offered 4 first round picks and 2 second round picks to Charlotte for the 9th which would have been used to draft Winslow, who was blatantly falling too far down the draft. That offer probably included every Celtic pick this year, a Brooklyn pick, and another future fist. That's an insane offer for the 9th overall. It's even crazier the Hornets turned it down because Michael Jordan, the teams owner, loves Frank Kaminsky too much to pass up on him. Kaminsky went 9th and Winslow next to the Heat at 10. Devastation. The Celtics also reportedly called about every pick 4-10 as well but couldn't get anything to develop. After that the Celtics were stuck at 16, watching helplessly as Turner, Lyles, and Kelly Oubre whom the Celtics were interested in, all left the board. Leaving the Celtics to pick what they liked from their secondary candidates.
Now lets get to the Celtics draftees. Terry Rozier is a 21 year old guard out of Louisville. Rozier is 6'2" 190 lbs, he has legit NBA size at his position. Along with that size he is quick on his feet and competitive as hell, he's a promising young defender. But the Celtics already have a better version of everything that Rozier is with Marcus Smart. By the way the Celtics are not trading Smart anytime soon, they see him as the only long term piece currently on the roster. He likely isn't leaving unless its for something big in return. This pick proves that Ainge definitely has a type, he likes these feisty, competitive, defensive guards. Celtics fans will probably like Rozier for all the same reason they like Smart, but he doesn't fill a team need. The Celtics need a ball handling, offensively skilled point guard to pair with Smart, unless they think Isiah Thomas is that long term piece. This pick doesn't make sense in the long term, but as mentioned before the Celtics were out of options. There wasn't much talent left at pick 16 and the Celtics decided to go with a type of player that the organization is comfortable with.
Everyone remembers Georgia State's R.J. Hunter hit that game winning shot against Baylor in the tournament, or more likely his dad falling out of that stool. R.J. is a 6'6" 2 guard and a pure shooter. Any team could use shooting on the wing to help space the floor. He was a good pick for where the Celtics got him at 28. But similar to Rozier, his skill set also overlaps a player the C's drafted last year, James Young. Young is also a wing with a nice shooting stroke. While he didn't get many minutes last season the Celtics like James Young, and want to give him a bigger role in the rotation. That makes it nearly impossible to squeeze Hunter in between Bradley, Turner, Crowder (if he stays), and Young. So why draft another wing shooter? Because you can really never have too many. Maybe drafting Hunter was a way to motivate Young to stay hungry for his roster spot. We can't be sure what the Celtics plan to do with all these guards they're stuck with now. All that is certain is that Ainge liked last years draft so much that he decided to run it back this year.
The Celtics other two draft picks came in the second round. Jordan Mickey offers some potential shot blocking out of LSU. He is a little undersized for an NBA big at 6'8", but he is an explosive athlete. Mickey is a great leaper who can block shots and finish lobs at the rim. He also offers a solid mid-range jump shot, similar to the Celtics other great mid-range shooting big from LSU, Brandon Bass. If Mickey hones in that athleticism he could be a better Brandon Wright. Marcus Thornton, out of William & Mary, is a late round gamble. He could play either guard position in college but it's unclear if his athleticism will translate to the NBA. The Celtics are unlikely to sign all 4 draft picks, so these two guys will really have to thrive in the summer league to earn a roster spot.
The draft can be cruel. You could argue that by pushing to make the playoffs that the Celtics shot themselves in the foot. Getting that 7th seed pushed them to the 16th overall pick, whereas they could have tanked to miss the playoffs and likely have a pick around the 11-15 area. Would the Hornets have taken the Celtics trade offer if it was the 13th pick instead of 16, knowing that Kaminsky might fall that far anyway? That argument is easy to make now that we know the outcome, that it costed the Celtics a shot at Justice Winslow. But at the time fans would have killed them if they sat players to purposely lose, and coach Brad Stevens would have been outraged. Playoff experience matters, the question is did it matter enough to cost us a chance at Winslow? We will never know the answer, the NBA is a world of "what if".
The C's will still be looking for that their star player to build around. They still need a rim protector and a wing scorer. They are now forced to turn to free agency to fill those team needs. This draft will be remembered as a missed opportunity, but it wasn't due to lack of effort.
Before draft night the Celtics had already looked at many different trade options. One rumored offer was focused around Marcus Smart and the 16th pick to the 76ers for Nerlens Noel and the 3rd pick. It is unclear whether this rumor is true but the Celtics were actively trying to move up in this draft into any spot they could find available. It is also unclear who the Celtics would be interested in had they traded up that high. However, there was a short list of players whom the Celtics were interested in drafting, that list included Willie Cauley-Stein, Miles Turner, and Trey Lyles. All three of those players fit what is probably the Celtics biggest need, athleticism in the front court. The Celtics have little to no rim protection on their roster and they were hoping one of these three could fill that void. Cauley-Stein was probably the best bet to do that, 7'1" and insanely athletic he's a natural shot blocker. Cauley-Stein is also versatile enough to switch onto ball handlers, a very important skill in todays NBA. With more teams moving toward a Spurs-like spread pick and roll offensive scheme, having defenders to negate that by switching pick and rolls is very valuable. Cauley-Stein would have been a great fit for the Celtics, there was some suspicion that he could fall to reachable on the day of the draft, and then the Kings broke those dreams by taking him at 6.
Along with rim protection the Celtics were also looking to add wing scoring in this draft. Two names that come to mind are Stanley Johnson and Justice Winslow. To have a chance at either of these players the Celtics would have to move into the top 10, and that is what they tried to do. The Celtics best chance of moving up was with the Charlotte Hornets who owned the 9th pick. With Justice Winslow still on the board the Celtics offered 4 first round picks and 2 second round picks to Charlotte for the 9th which would have been used to draft Winslow, who was blatantly falling too far down the draft. That offer probably included every Celtic pick this year, a Brooklyn pick, and another future fist. That's an insane offer for the 9th overall. It's even crazier the Hornets turned it down because Michael Jordan, the teams owner, loves Frank Kaminsky too much to pass up on him. Kaminsky went 9th and Winslow next to the Heat at 10. Devastation. The Celtics also reportedly called about every pick 4-10 as well but couldn't get anything to develop. After that the Celtics were stuck at 16, watching helplessly as Turner, Lyles, and Kelly Oubre whom the Celtics were interested in, all left the board. Leaving the Celtics to pick what they liked from their secondary candidates.
Now lets get to the Celtics draftees. Terry Rozier is a 21 year old guard out of Louisville. Rozier is 6'2" 190 lbs, he has legit NBA size at his position. Along with that size he is quick on his feet and competitive as hell, he's a promising young defender. But the Celtics already have a better version of everything that Rozier is with Marcus Smart. By the way the Celtics are not trading Smart anytime soon, they see him as the only long term piece currently on the roster. He likely isn't leaving unless its for something big in return. This pick proves that Ainge definitely has a type, he likes these feisty, competitive, defensive guards. Celtics fans will probably like Rozier for all the same reason they like Smart, but he doesn't fill a team need. The Celtics need a ball handling, offensively skilled point guard to pair with Smart, unless they think Isiah Thomas is that long term piece. This pick doesn't make sense in the long term, but as mentioned before the Celtics were out of options. There wasn't much talent left at pick 16 and the Celtics decided to go with a type of player that the organization is comfortable with.
Everyone remembers Georgia State's R.J. Hunter hit that game winning shot against Baylor in the tournament, or more likely his dad falling out of that stool. R.J. is a 6'6" 2 guard and a pure shooter. Any team could use shooting on the wing to help space the floor. He was a good pick for where the Celtics got him at 28. But similar to Rozier, his skill set also overlaps a player the C's drafted last year, James Young. Young is also a wing with a nice shooting stroke. While he didn't get many minutes last season the Celtics like James Young, and want to give him a bigger role in the rotation. That makes it nearly impossible to squeeze Hunter in between Bradley, Turner, Crowder (if he stays), and Young. So why draft another wing shooter? Because you can really never have too many. Maybe drafting Hunter was a way to motivate Young to stay hungry for his roster spot. We can't be sure what the Celtics plan to do with all these guards they're stuck with now. All that is certain is that Ainge liked last years draft so much that he decided to run it back this year.
The Celtics other two draft picks came in the second round. Jordan Mickey offers some potential shot blocking out of LSU. He is a little undersized for an NBA big at 6'8", but he is an explosive athlete. Mickey is a great leaper who can block shots and finish lobs at the rim. He also offers a solid mid-range jump shot, similar to the Celtics other great mid-range shooting big from LSU, Brandon Bass. If Mickey hones in that athleticism he could be a better Brandon Wright. Marcus Thornton, out of William & Mary, is a late round gamble. He could play either guard position in college but it's unclear if his athleticism will translate to the NBA. The Celtics are unlikely to sign all 4 draft picks, so these two guys will really have to thrive in the summer league to earn a roster spot.
The draft can be cruel. You could argue that by pushing to make the playoffs that the Celtics shot themselves in the foot. Getting that 7th seed pushed them to the 16th overall pick, whereas they could have tanked to miss the playoffs and likely have a pick around the 11-15 area. Would the Hornets have taken the Celtics trade offer if it was the 13th pick instead of 16, knowing that Kaminsky might fall that far anyway? That argument is easy to make now that we know the outcome, that it costed the Celtics a shot at Justice Winslow. But at the time fans would have killed them if they sat players to purposely lose, and coach Brad Stevens would have been outraged. Playoff experience matters, the question is did it matter enough to cost us a chance at Winslow? We will never know the answer, the NBA is a world of "what if".
The C's will still be looking for that their star player to build around. They still need a rim protector and a wing scorer. They are now forced to turn to free agency to fill those team needs. This draft will be remembered as a missed opportunity, but it wasn't due to lack of effort.
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