2019 Boston Celtics NBA Draft Preview
With the 2019 NBA Draft a day away, what do the Boston Celtics have for picks, what type of players should they target and who would I like them to take. Danny Ainge is on the clock!
The Boston Celtics hold picks #14, #20 and #22 in the first round of Thursday night’s NBA Draft. With the point guard and center positions a mystery for the Celtics right now and shooting a need as well, who should they take with their first pick in the draft?
The top three-point guards in the draft will most likely be off the board by the time Adam Silver gets to the podium to announce Boston’s pick. As I wrote earlier in the Celtics’ offseason, I think they should tackle the vacant point guard position with a free agent signing if they can’t find a way to re-sign Terry Rozier. Rozier knows the system and showed flashes of brilliance when being the lead man.
The combo guard out of Louisville has always been one of Danny Ainge’s favorites and I would hope that they can find a way to mend the relationship and sign with Boston for the long run.
Truth be told, I don’t think that besides Ja Morant, the other two, Coby White and Darius Garland, will be able to come in and contribute at a high level right away. Boston is ready to win now and need someone to lead this team without having to wear training wheels. Those two would be perfect on rebuilding teams, where nothing is really expected of them.
Two point guards I like later in the first or the second (as back-ups) would be Carson Edwards of Purdue (late first round, early second) and Shamorie Ponds of St. John’s (second round). Both guys can definitely score and it showed as they both carried their teams to the NCAA tournament this season. Edwards and Ponds both remained on campus for three years to add to their game as well.
Edwards was the man this year for the Boilermakers where he led the league in scoring at 24.3 points per game. He was also named to the First Team All Big Ten team. While leading Purdue to the NCAA Tournament, he was incredible, tossing in two, 42 point game performances. He averaged nearly 35 points per game on their four game run in March to the Elite Eight.
I had the pleasure of watching a lot of Shamorie Ponds’ games during his Big East play over the last three seasons. He is a player that can really turn it on when hot and improved his game each year at St. John’s under Chris Mullen. Ponds averaged 19.7 points per game this season while leading the Big East in steals as well. I don’t see him being taken in the first round, but he is definitely a steal to be had in the second and should be a rotation player right away.
Shooting is another thing the Celtics lacked in the playoffs, and one name that continues to be linked to Boston is Kentucky’s Tyler Herro. He averaged 14 points per game for John Calipari last year while shooting 35.5 percent from three, which really isn’t that good at the college level.
Another shooting guard who will be available later in the first, and may be a little bit of a reach is Virginia’s Ty Jerome. Freshly off a season where he averaged 13.6 points per game and shot nearly 40 percent from three while taking home a National Championship. He upped his game during the road to the Finals and played under a defensive minded coach in Tony Bennett. He looks like the type of player that would thrive under Coach Brad Stevens.
According to the “Woj Bomb” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped yesterday afternoon regarding Al Horford, I see Ainge targeting a front-court player. Picks 8-20 all look like they could go in any direction and each mock draft I’ve seen have someone different being selected by the Celtics at 14. That will change even more after the Horford news.
The picks range from: Cam Reddish (Duke), Jaxson Hayes (Texas), Brandon Clarke and Hachimura (Gonzaga), Nassir Little and Cameron Johnson (North Carolina), Herro and PJ Washington (Kentucky). Toss in Bol Bol (Oregon) and international players, Goga Bitadze (Georgia) and Sekou Doumbouya (France) and you have lots of options available.
Ainge is a smart GM and they still have Memphis’ 2020 first round pick if it falls within the seven through 30 range. I wonder if he talks to some teams that aren’t ready to compete yet and dumps a few picks to move up. They also have a lot of cap space now if they don’t find a way to work out a deal with Horford.
If Ainge isn’t able to make a trade prior to being put on the clock, I can see him looking at someone to replace Marcus Morris in the rotation. Morris is an unrestricted free agent this summer and I can’t imagine him taking a discount to stay in Boston. Seeing he signed with Klutch Sports there is a good chance he signs with one of the LA teams.
Drafting and stashing one of the international players like he did in 2016 is another option for Boston. That year they drafted Jaylen Brown at three, Guerschon Yabusele at #16 and Ante Zizic at #23. “Yabu” stayed a year in China and Zizic was sent to Cleveland as a part of the Kyrie Irving trade.
I’d like to see Jaxon Hayes fall to them at 14. He and Robert WIlliams could be Horford’s replacements and there isn’t anything wrong with adding another long athletic body, as Hayes is 6’11. I also really like PJ Washington at that spot. He is guy that averaged over 15 points and seven rebounds per game. He also shot 42% from three as well last season too.
At this point, you have to trust Ainge to do his due diligence and do what’s best for the Celtics franchise. He has a great track record in my opinion and is always up to make a gamble. Some will say the whole Kyrie Irving-situation blew up in his face. I don’t agree with that.
He made a move to bring in an All-NBA point guard and also brought in another max contract player in Gordon Hayward. It was impossible to know at the time that Hayward would go down immediately in his first game and Irving would “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk.”
If the Celtics’ picks stay where they are, this is what I’m hoping for on Thursday night:
14. Jaxson Hayes or PJ Washington. Unless Cam Reddish somehow slides.
20. Cameron Johnson, Nassir Little or Bol Bol (because I’m intrigued).
22. Ty Jerome, Mfiondu Kabengele or Grant Williams.
51. Shamorie Ponds, Jontay Porter or find a way to trade up and get Chuma Okeke who is coming off an ACL tear at Auburn.
Next. How the Celtics can sign D'Angelo Russell. dark
The NBA Draft is like Christmas Day for me and I’m very excited to see what direction Danny Ainge will take the Celtics for the upcoming season and future. We have pieces in place, cap space and future draft picks to work with. Danny Ainge, you’re officially on the clock!