With their lone-lottery pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, Bleacher Report believes the Boston Celtics could target this surprise talent.
Though the Boston Celtics still find themselves in the running for the 2020 Larry O’Brien trophy, they also are in possession of ample value heading into this year’s NBA Draft, a trend not often found amongst actual title contenders.
Thanks to a bevy of swavé moves made over the years by General Manager & President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, the shamrocks have been in control of a substantial amount of draft capital over the years and, this year, hold the rights to three first-round picks including their own at 26, the Milwaukee Bucks’ at 30, and the Memphis Grizzlies’ which is slotted in at 14th overall.
Throughout the past several months, we here at Hardwood Houdini have given our humble opinions on who the Celtics should have on their radars heading into this illustrious night, with publications spanning from mock drafts to specific targets at each pick.
Recently, Bleacher Report dipped their toes in the sand themselves and penned an article naming one surprise first-round draft target each team could. Obviously, the Boston Celtics, what with their three selections, were listed thrice in the piece, having Duke small forward Cassius Stanley going to them at 26 and Louisville power forward Jordan Nwora being selected at 30.
However, the most surprising player listed by writer Jonathan Wasserman was who he had going to Boston with their lone-lottery pick. That talent — freshman combo guard out of Stanford Tyrell Terry.
Wasserman’s reasoning read as follows:
"Terry could back up Kemba Walker and give Boston’s second unit a shooter who’ll be more accurate and consistent than Marcus Smart or Romeo Langford. Brad Stevens would seemingly value his skill level, basketball IQ and competitiveness."
Now, we see that this article was intended to be a sort of “food for thought” type of publication; that these players, though worthy of first-round consideration, will not likely end up on the teams in which they were linked to.
That said, in regard to the idea of the Boston Celtics taking Terry with their only lottery selection, it would simply be an egregious reach. The guard, though talented (14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists on 41 percent shooting from 3), is often found going in the mid to late 20s (where Boston also has a pick) and, in some rare instances, not at all in the first round, though I don’t foresee this happening.
This is not to say that we don’t believe the 19-year-old has impressive upside (some have gone on to compare him to C.J. McCollum) but, rather, taking him over other talents such as Aaron Nesmith, Kira Lewis Jr. and, yes, my man Jalen Smith (his stock has grown tremendously over the past several months) would be seen as an unnecessary act, for they could wait and, according to various other mocks, theoretically get him with one of their later picks.
It is the Houdini’s humble opinion that, as of this moment, the Celtics should focus their attention on numerous other players at 14th overall before they come to Tyrell Terry.
What say you?