Boston Celtics 2022 NBA Draft: Draft night inactivity could lead to big free agency period

The Boston Celtics had a surprisingly stellar draft night despite having just the No. 53 pick in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. Alabama combo guard JD Davison fell below where many projected him to go, and Cs President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens didn’t wait to pull the trigger on bringing him aboard.

Still, many thought the Cs would parlay future several second-round picks into either a late first-round selection or a second-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. According to Stevens, the front office ‘did at least discuss moving up in the draft,’ but the ‘price was just too high’ to get anything done.

Luckily, there is a silver lining on the horizon that should make Boston Celtics fans even happier than they would have been had the team made an aggressive move for a prospect that may not be able to contribute in 2022-23.

MassLive’s Souichi Terada shared Stevens’ new vision for the Celtics front office after a relatively inactive draft night:

"“Stevens said there will be more opportunities to use assets like the traded player exceptions, so it “didn’t make sense” to use them up Thursday.”"

The Boston Celtics could benefit from helping other teams carve out cap space

Boston isn’t going to be much of a free agency player due to their non-existent cap space and relatively limited means (taxpayer MLE, veteran’s minimum) to acquire someone on the open market. What they can be is a team that benefits from other squads desperate to carve out cap space and willing to part with players for cheap.

The New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, and Portland Trail Blazers are all teams with big free agency plans that could look to offload non-essential pieces in order to land whoever is at the top of their free agency big board. Add in the Los Angeles Lakers if Kyrie Irving is set on bolting the Brooklyn Nets and isn’t willing to take a $30 million pay-cut to take the TPMLE.

Boston’s front office practicing patience could pay off just like it did in 2013 when the team jumpstarted its rebuild, and throughout the late 2010s/early 2020s so far in not trading away any of its core members (the ‘Jays’, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams) to craft an Eastern Conference champion and NBA title contender.