Boston Celtics: “Draft or Pass” on 3 recently suggested targets

Boston Celtics draft target No. 3) Davion Mitchell, PG/ SG, Baylor

2020-21 was a big year for Davion Mitchell.

The Baylor guard managed to accumulate a resume during his final season at the collegiate level that reads as follows:

• Big 12 All-Defensive Team
• Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
• First-team All-Big 12
• Third-team All-American
• Lefty Driesell Award
• NABC Defensive Player of the Year
• Naismith Defensive Player of the Year
• NCAA champion

Now, with this laundry list of accomplishments, the 22-year-old is likely to set his sights on the NBA Draft and, in a recent mock penned by Sports Illustrated, we actually found Mitchell landing with the Boston Celtics at 15th overall.

A key contributor in Baylor’s title run this season, the seasoned combo guard proved his worth as a reliable scorer (14.1 points per game on 51 percent shooting from the floor and 45 percent shooting from deep), distributor (5.5 assists per game), and as a tenacious scrapper on the less glamorous side of the ball (1.9 steals with a 3.7 defensive box plus/ minus).

Though his excellent NCAA Tournament run may wind up putting him a bit out of reach for the Cs come draft night, Buckley believes, should he fall, Ainge should jump at the opportunity to snag him:

"Boston clearly needs reliability at the lead guard spot given Kemba Walker‘s trouble shaking a nagging knee injury. The Celtics hoped they would get that out of Jeff Teague, but it was obvious early on that wouldn’t be the case. Rookie Payton Pritchard has provided a nice jolt, but he’s more of a scorer than a table-setter."

Bringing on Davion Mitchell would be a blessing in many ways for the team’s front office.

Obviously, the most important factor would be that they’d be bringing on a solid overall player with high-upside potential (Donovan Mitchell-esque) to pair alongside the likes of their youthful wings in Tatum and Brown.

However, with him on board, it would make the likes of Kemba Walker and perhaps even Marcus Smart expendable which, in turn, could potentially lead to trades that could better fill out the rest of the rotation.

His all-around skill set would fill various holes within the C’s rotation and, if they were to find him available when they’re on the board, he’d be a hard prospect to pass up on.

Verdict: Draft