Boston Celtics Options: What Would You Do With The Sixth Pick?

All right, Boston Celtics fans!

Here at Hardwood Houdini, we created a pre-draft lottery mock draft in which the Boston Celtics would up drafting Jabari Parker with the third pick in the NBA Draft.

That was all well and good – until the REAL lottery went down, and the Celtics wound up with the sixth pick.

Something tells me Jabari won’t still be around at that point in the draft, which renders all of my hard work useless.

In order to justify this situation, I will be performing a new mock draft – but I need your help.  See, there are a number of needs that the Celtics have to address this offseason, which means there are plenty of directions the Celtics could go in with this pick.

The player whose name I hear the most now that we all know which pick the Celtics hold is Julius Randle, the power forward from the University of Kentucky.  If you read any of my stuff during the NCAA Tournament, you know that I am a die-hard Wildcats fan who enjoyed watching Randle play.  I think he definitely has an offensive game that will translate allow him to have a successful NBA career . . . but with his limited wingspan and his average defensive capabilities, I’m not entirely sold on Boston using the sixth pick on him.

If the Celtics want to bring in a power forward, I might be partial to grabbing Noah Vonleh out of Indiana.  He has the reach that Randle does not, and has already shown potential as both an on-the ball and a low post defender.  Something to consider.

Marcus Smart is another name that experts are tossing around, since the Celtics could use an upgrade at the two (and since Dante Exum will surely be gone by this time, as well).  I’m warming to the idea of giving Rajon Rondo a more dynamic partner in the backcourt, but is Smart the smart choice?  (Sorry – even I’m sad for doing that.)  Would someone like Nik Stauskas out of Michigan be a better fit?  Or perhaps the freakishly-athletic James Young out of Kentucky, who threw down this unforgettable jam against UCONN in the NCAA Championship game:

Of course, there is another option the Celtics have when it comes to the sixth pick: trading it, either to move up in the draft, or to pull off a blockbuster trade for a marquee player such as Kevin Love.   Let’s face it: Boston Celtics fans want the Cs back in the playoffs sooner or later, and bringing in an All-Star talent such as Love to play a full season with Rondo would practically guarantee that Boston will be playing in May next season.

Enough from me, though – I want YOU to decide which option the Boston Celtics pursue in my next mock draft.  Vote, and feel free to leave comments below, or to fire them my way @HoudiniCeltics!