Boston Celtics 2022 NBA Draft: 3 projected second-rounders Cs can trade Aaron Nesmith for
The Boston Celtics suffered a most unfortunate happenstance during the 2022 NBA Finals: there is not enough depth to win it all if the core isn’t playing their best basketball.
Grant Williams shot well but left a minimal impact on the NBA Finals and things were worse for Payton Pritchard in his first Finals. The second-year point guard scored one point in the team’s final three games in 21 minutes of floor time. Derrick White was similarly gun-shy, and thus effectively neutralized, during the Dubs’ ‘death lineup’ takeover of the final three games (all Cs losses) of the series.
A man who wasn’t even turned to–outside 15 minutes of garbage time–despite the struggles of the rest of the second unit was Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith was a net positive in the fourth quarter of a game the Cs trailed by over 30 going into it, scoring five points, dishing out two assists, grabbing two boards, and a steal in a shade under 11 minutes of floor-time in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, but that was his only notable postseason minutes.
It’s possible the front office could pursue a better-fitting second round pick in the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft if teams see potential in Nesmith and can grant him a chance to develop on a team not immediately contending.
Teams like the Pistons (No. 46 pick) and Kings (No. 49 pick) could gamble on Nesmith developing quicker than a second-rounder, while the Cs themselves could gamble on stealing first-round talent on a second-round salary. Boston already owns the No. 53 pick, but could use another chance to add a diamond in the rough talent that could immediately fill a need ahead of their draft position.
These are 3 projected second-rounders the Boston Celtics can trade Aaron Nesmith to draft
Trevion Williams, Purdue
Purdue was such a strong outfit (St. Peters was an unfathomable Cinderella freight train) because of the overwhelming frontcourt physicality of Zach Edey, Caleb Furst, and most of all, Trevion Williams.
Williams was a four-year Boilermaker that peaked his junior year and likely had a higher draft ceiling last season. His stats popped more last year, and he lost his starting job besides four games.
Robert Williams III could use a big man that can absorb regular season minutes to preserve his health for the postseason, and Trevion Williams has the physicality to avoid the Cs losing their identity without the ‘Time Lord’ in the lineup.