Boston Celtics: Two former top 15 picks predicted to make roster out of training camp

Will the Boston Celtics put the Kevin Durant speculation to bed one way or another and move on with the rest of their roster sometime soon? Well, Hardwood Houdini can only hope that’s where this is headed.

KD has had the NBA on hold for several months, slowing free agency to a crawl. The Celtics were able to steal Danilo Gallinari off the market for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception on the first day he was eligible, but they’ve been relatively quiet since.

Luke Kornet and Sam Hauser represent the end of the bench right now as the 11th and 12th men, but it sounds as though the Cs are going to add at least two more players — keeping the 15th roster spot open for a midseason addition.

In his latest Boston Celtics Mailbag, MassLive’s Brian Robb said that two former top 15 picks could make roster after training camp and the preseason

According to Robb, Noah Vonleh (No. 9 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft) and Justin Jackson (No. 15 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft) could end up being signed by the Boston Celtics after proving themselves this coming September and October:

"“I’d bet on Vonleh and Jackson out of that group but it’s toss up and is also going to be about how they fit in the system during camp and how they perform. No one has a big edge going in.”"

Now should a Kevin Durant trade happen for the Boston Celtics, the need to sign more of the training camp tryouts (like Brodric Thomas or Bruno Caboclo) to fill in the blanks of a roster that will have likely just sent out more outbound players than what they’d be receiving in return.

But should the roster remain intact, which appears a far likelier scenario considering the Brooklyn Nets’ sky-high asking price and private insistence that Durant and Kyrie Irving run it back with a roster that has improved in the offseason, the Cs may lean towards former first-rounders who have yet to find the perfect NBA home to resurrect their careers in Boston.