Boston Celtics 2022 NBA Draft: Why you shoudn’t be too excited about the No. 53 pick

The Boston Celtics don’t own a first-round draft pick in the 2022 NBA Draft due to the Derrick White trade with the San Antonio Spurs that went down during this past February 10th’s trade deadline.

That said, the Cs do own a second-round pick (the No. 53 pick) and are rumored to be considering packaging several future second-round draft picks in order to trade back into the 2022 NBA Draft’s first round.

While Boston can produce fireworks with a potential first-round pick, they aren’t likely to do so with the No. 53 pick. Instead, another stash in the vein of Yam Madar or Juhann Begarin could be on the way, but in the future of course.

Keith Smith of Spotrac and CelticsBlog reported the details of how the Boston Celtics may plan on using their second-round pick, and it isn’t likely to get many fans too excited:

Other ways the Boston Celtics could use the No. 53 pick

If Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations has such disinterest in the No. 53 pick, he may as well package it in a salary dump to make use of one of the smaller TPEs. Teams with hopes of creating cap space could take the pick, creating a TPE for themselves in the process, and stash the selection themselves.

The Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks appear interested in adding a high-priced salary this offseason–the Hornets are interested in Russell Westbrook’s $47 million expiring deal, while the Knicks have free agent plans to land Jalen Brunson, and longer-shot dreams to land Kyrie Irving–so young underpriced players on their rosters like JT Thor, Kai Jones, Obi Toppin, or Immanuel Quickley should be on the Celtics front office’s radar on draft night.