Boston Celtics: 2 reasons why Cs should tank during play-in tournament

Reason for Boston Celtics to tank No. 2) Improving their draft odds

These past several offseasons have been filled with such excitement for the Boston Celtics and their fanbase, for, over the last five years, the franchise has found itself in possession of a total of 11 first-round picks, with three of those years (2016, 2019, 2020) seeing a total of three on each night.

Because of this, the belief was that, with the impressive state in which the organization found itself in, Danny Ainge and co. could go in a few different directions with their capital and, either way, things would likely turn out to be ok.

Though it was a popular desire to see the shamrocks package some of their picks together to acquire another star, the front office opted to keep the majority of their picks, unfortunately resulting in several underwhelming selections.

Now, looking at the situation the team currently finds itself in — both with the state of their relatively shallow roster as well as the uber-talented opposing rosters found within their own conference (Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, etc.) — it’s almost certain that, if Boston was able to take part in some sort of “do-over”, they likely would without hesitation.

Ironically, the year that even Ainge admits the team should consider upping their talent pool via trade is the one where they don’t hold a multitude of first-rounders/ lottery picks as sweeteners but, instead, possess just their own which, should they make the postseason, would have little significance on the trade market.

However, should they miss out on the playoffs, the Boston Celtics would drop into the draft lottery where the pick’s value would have the chance to increase substantially — obviously, it isn’t likely to go up too high but, still, it gives them a chance.

With the upcoming draft reportedly being flush with talent even in the mid to late lottery, should the Cs get lucky and land inside this threshold they could up their ante in a potential offseason trade that they may wish to partake in — which, in our opinion, could have the potential for them to land a legitimate star.

Even if they wish to simply better their odds of bringing on a young and talented player on a cheap contract with their pick, tanking during the play-in would still give them a better chance of nabbing a promising prospect.

No matter which way you look at it, be it to keep the pick or to look to flip it for an already established player, missing out on the postseason would indefinitely increase its value.