Despite still being in contention for an NBA championship, the Boston Celtics find themselves officially in possession of the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft.
Though it may be the least surprising news you’ve received since the turn of the decade, the draft order within the lottery is finally set, and the Boston Celtics can officially start looking into future steps in regard to their number 14 overall pick.
The Celtics received the rights to the pick via trade with the Memphis Grizzlies back in 2015 that sent Jeff Green to Grind City. Last season, the pick was protected one through eight where, luckily for Memphis, the team jumped up to the number two slot where they selected rookie sensation Ja Morant.
As for the shamrocks, they find themselves in quite an envious situation. While they are in fact in possession of a lottery pick, they currently find themselves legitimately in the running to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy by the end of the 2019-20 season.
With the likes of All-Stars Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum, arguable All-Star snub Jaylen Brown, former All-Star Gordon Hayward, and the Swiss Army man Marcus Smart all under contract for the foreseeable future, the thought of adding another lottery-level talent to this group is an unbelievably joyous image to have.
That said, General Manager and President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge is a man known for his salesmanship in trade negotiations. We could just as easily see Boston shop the pick for already established talent.
In the eyes of some of us here at the Houdini, this route would be preferred.
At the end of the day, however, there is no more speculation as to where the Memphis pick will land: it’s set in stone at 14th overall.
What we can still speculate on, however, is what the Boston Celtics may decide to do with said pick which, in my opinion, is the most fun of all!