FN believes Boston Celtics made mistake not drafting Hawks All-Star

FanNation’s Ben Stinar believes the Boston Celtics made a mistake not selecting Dejounte Murray in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft — when they instead selected Ante Zizic, who is already out of the league.

Murray has become an All-Star in the years since, being selected to the 2022 exhibition while still with the Spurs. Last summer, he was traded for three future first-round draft choices and a pick swap to the Hawks.

According to Stinar, the Celtics missed out on a perfect fit with their current core by going with the Croatian center over Murray, who was projected to be a mid to late first-rounder coming out of Washington, with the No. 23 pick:

"“Žižić played in seven NBA Summer League games with the Celtics but was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a deal for Kyrie Irving before the 2016-17 season began.”“It’s possible that if the Celtics had drafted Murray, the Cavs would have wanted him in the trade.”“No one will ever know the answer to that, but if the Celtics currently had Murray, he’d be a perfect fit on their roster with Brown and Jayson Tatum.”"

Why the Boston Celtics didn’t select Dejounte Murray

Back when Murray was draft eligible, the Boston Celtics were coming off a 48-win season that led to a first-round elimination against the 48-win Hawks. Led by Isaiah Thomas, who was about to become an MVP, and with 2015 first-round draft pick Terry Rozier behind him, the point guard spot was pretty set in stone for the Cs.

While Murray does have combo guard size, the team had already taken Jaylen Brown with the No. 3 pick that draft and had selected Marcus Smart two seasons prior. Having been burned by the R.J. Hunter draft pick during the 2015-16 season, Boston decided to go for a wing (Guerschon Yabusele) and a big (Zizic) — and got minimal results from both.

Murray is now co-starring in the Atlanta backcourt with Trae Young on $16+ million salary, something he may not have gotten with both Brown and Jayson Tatum taking up the lion’s share of the touches the past few years.