7 players the Boston Celtics should have never given a chance
By Ben Grunert
James Young
Back in 2014, the Celtics took James Young with the 17th pick. Many Boston fans had high hopes for the lefty out of Kentucky, but he didn’t exactly pan out. In fact, he only lasted four seasons in the league, three of which came in Beantown.
Young was a classic example of a draft miss for the Celtics, plain and simple. The Southpaw only shot 36% or better from the field for one season, and he shot a career 27.7% from downtown and 56.3% from the free-throw line.
Young’s play in college could not have contrasted more with how he performed as a pro. Hyped up as a scoring guard with an NBA-ready 3-point shot, Young came into the league and divided his college scoring average by seven. Given the serious promise he showed at Kentucky, his career 2.3 points per game in the NBA are almost befuddling to look at.
Looking back at the 2014 draft class, the Boston Celtics also missed out on many high-quality players. For starters, Clint Capela and Kyle Anderson were both selected after Young. Meanwhile, the most famous second-round pick in NBA history also entered the fray as Denver took Nikola Jokic with pick No. 41. Notable players like Jerami Grant, Jordan Clarkson, and Spencer Dinwiddie were all snagged in the second round as well.
While the Celtics could have drafted a much better player with their mid-first-round pick in 2014, the NBA Draft is no piece of cake. After all, hindsight is 20/20.
In an era where Danny Ainge made first-round selections of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Rob Williams, Boston was bound to whiff on a few picks.