Boston Celtics Big Board: 3 players Cs will target at each position in 2020 NBA Draft
Shooting guard
While the Cs are most stacked at the 2-guard on the depth chart with Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown holding it down at shooting guard, the reality is that both will likely be starting in 2020-21. Boston may need to find a new primary backup, with Javonte Green on a non-guaranteed deal.
Josh Green
I’ve mentioned Josh Green as a Javonte Green replacement before:
"There’s no easier way to replace a Javonte Green than to find someone with the same last name and initials. All joking aside, Josh Green qualifies as a suitable replacement for the 26-year-old for a multitude of reasons. …the Arizona product has high upside as an across the board threat. Green averaged 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists during his abbreviated freshman year on 36 percent shooting from the 3-point line. Green is passive enough to fit into what the Boston Celtics are going for next season and beyond. Given the C’s found Javonte Green as a journeyman free agent, drafting his replacement in the first round of the draft out of one of the NCAA’s strongest conferences (Pac-12) would be a boon for Ainge and the C’s front office."
The Houdini’s thoughts are unchanged on the matter. If the Cs are going to lose an uber-athlete whose last name is the very color he is sporting, find another!
Tyrese Maxey
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie had the Cs taking Tyrese Maxey out of Kentucky in a recent mock draft:
"“Everything about Maxey’s game screams Celtics to me,” Vecenie wrote. “He’s a tough kid with a terrific, powerful frame that looks like that of a free safety at 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-6 wingspan. He also has a real personality to him, and is thought to be a great kid and a tremendous worker. More than the non-basketball stuff, though, Maxey is a real threat as an on-ball scoring guard with great craft. He finishes well at the basket, has a terrific floater game, and does a great job getting downhill to get into the paint. He’s also a strong on-ball defender.”"
Maxey is the kind of raw athlete that can thrive as a change-of-pace rim-attacker off the bench. He could usurp Romeo Langford very quickly after the 2019 #14 pick failed to make much of an impact in his rookie season.
He may also have the ability to take over some ball-handling duties after doing so under John Calipari in 2019-20.
Immanuel Quickley
Perhaps the other Wildcats starting guard, Immanuel Quickley, could be a fit in Beantown too. Amy Fadool over at NBC Sports Philadelphia broke down his game, being that he is a potential Sixers target:
"(Quickley) played shooting guard and off the ball more at Kentucky because Tyrese Maxey burst on the scene and took over PG duties. However, Quickley flourished in his scoring role. For the season, he shot nearly 43 percent from three-point range, and during SEC play, that number ballooned to nearly 48 percent. From his freshman to his sophomore season, he doubled his perimeter shooting volume, taking almost five threes per game this past season. One thing that always shows me a player is a good natural shooter is free throws. Quickley was No. 3 in the nation in free throw percentage and the No. 1 power conference player at over 92 percent."
Quickley would be a cost-efficient way to address the question of who is expected to put up points from the second unit next season.