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The Celtics Don’t Have Enough to Trade Up in the Draft

By Jeremy Karll

Mar 19, 2016; Providence, RI, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Brandon Ingram (14) brings the ball up court during the first half of a second round game against the Yale Bulldogs in 2016 NCAA Tournament at Dunkin Donuts Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2016; Providence, RI, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Brandon Ingram (14) brings the ball up court during the first half of a second round game against the Yale Bulldogs in 2016 NCAA Tournament at Dunkin Donuts Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Celtics missed out on a top-two pick and they won’t be able to trade into it

The Draft Lottery took place on Tuesday and it was basically telling everyone where Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram would end up. The Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers landed the top-two picks in the draft, just as expected. The Boston Celtics could have benefited greatly from landing a player like Simmons or Ingram as they could have stepped in right away and made a big impact, however, Boston ended up at three.

After finding out Boston was picking third, the city of Boston was wondering whether Danny Ainge would be able to pull off one of his famous blockbuster trades to move them up into the top-two. The sad news is it won’t happen.

The 76ers are very content with staying at number one. After tanking and trying to lose as many games as possible, for the past three seasons, the 76ers finally landed the number one pick. Sure, they were able to snag Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric over the past couple of years but they have not been awarded the first overall pick since 1996 when they drafted Allen Iverson.

Over the past couple of drafts, they’ve missed out on Karl-Anthony Towns – unanimous Rookie of the Year and already one of the best big men in the league. Philadelphia also missed out on Andrew Wiggins as both went to Minnesota. Brett Brown and Jerry Colangelo are certainly jumping for joy now that they have a chance at Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram and their plan is starting to work.

The 2016 Draft is a lot weaker than the projected draft class next year or last year’s draft. The drop off from Ingram or Simmons to Buddy Hield or Kris Dunn is huge and not something the 76ers would be worth giving up. Not even for two more picks outside of the lottery.

This is what Philadelphia has waited for since they started the Trust the Process campaign. The 76ers are about to land a franchise altering player in this year’s draft and they won’t give that up for a good but not great young player and two mid-to-late first round picks in a thin draft.

Even if the Celtics were to also add an established veteran like Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart or Jae Crowder, the 76ers probably wouldn’t budge. Both Ingram and Simmons are projected to be a lot better than any of those three and, as previously noted, the talent in this draft takes a nose dive as it leaves the lottery.

Moving up to number two would be the best bet for Boston, however, moving up one spot would even be costly. In a draft like last year, moving down from two to three would have meant getting Jahlil Okafor instead of D’Angelo Russell, still a very good player. This year, it would mean picking Jamal Murray or Buddy Hield instead of Brandon Ingram.

Feb 13, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) brings the ball up court against the Texas A&M Aggies during the first half of a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 13, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) brings the ball up court against the Texas A&M Aggies during the first half of a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

The Lakers are expected to make a run at unrestricted free agent DeMar DeRozan, setting their back court up perfectly for the future. Los Angeles already has D’Angelo Russell on their roster, and Jordan Clarkson is a restricted free agent, so the Lakers would have one of the most promising back courts in the NBA.

Brandon Ingram has the ability to play small forward and would be the perfect poster child to replace Kobe Bryant. He’s an elite scorer like a young Kobe Bryant and would quickly be able to take over the team’s role as a go-to scorer.

Ingram would be the only guard the Lakers would be looking at, so moving down to third wouldn’t do them much good. They could draft a high-potential player in Dragan Bender, however, he may struggle for a couple of seasons and the Lakers want to get out of the unchartered waters of rebuilding as soon as possible. Jakob Poeltl or Henry Ellenson could also be a fit for Los Angeles, however, they’d have no where near the same impact as Ingram.

The fact of the matter is the Celtics don’t have enough assets. As crazy as it sounds for a 48-win team with eight draft picks, and three in the first round, it’s true. The players the Celtics would trade aren’t stars – they’re very good players. A rebuilding team is looking for a player they can build their franchise around, not a couple of players that should have stayed in school another year and a very good player.

Trading for an established free agent would be the Celtics best bet if they didn’t want to keep the third pick. While DeMarcus Cousins is probably off the table with Dave Joerger as the new head coach, Jimmy Butler is an intriguing name.

The Chicago Bulls star shooting guard would instantly fit into Boston’s tough defense and fast-paced offense. In fact, Danny Ainge tried to strike up a deal for the guard right before the trade deadline but he didn’t want to add both the Nets’ pick and Jae Crowder.

There’s not a player the Celtics could get at number three that will have as big of an impact next season as Jimmy Butler. He is also a better version of Jae Crowder as they have similar games but Butler is more productive. Besides, the Celtics can afford the max-contract the Bulls gave him last season.

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Trading Jae Crowder, the third and 16th overall pick might be something the Bulls would do. They’d be able to draft a replacement for Butler with the third pick or pick Kris Dunn to replace Derrick Rose in a year. They’d also be able to add to their budding front court with their later picks.

They may even want the Celtics’ pick as well, and it would still be worth doing. If the Celtics believe they can win now then they need another star next to Isaiah Thomas. Solid rotational players and a couple more rookies won’t push them over the top but a player like Jimmy Butler would.

Next: Five Options With the Third Pick

It’s fun to imagine that the Celtics could land Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram but that dream is over, unless a big scandal comes out about one of them causing them to drop. The 76ers and Lakers won’t budge unless Ainge wanted to gut the team. The Celtics best bet would be to trade for Jimmy Butler or another established veteran who could have an impact right away alongside Isaiah Thomas.

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