Ainge draft pick rankings: Marcus Banks and second round misses (No.40-31)

Danny Ainge is one of the savviest executives in the NBA, however, there is one area of his tenure that involves plenty of debate among fans: His track record at the NBA Draft. Just how well has Ainge done with his drafting as a whole over the past 17 years in Boston? In order to get a better sense of his body of work, I teamed up with BSJ contributor Ryan Bernardoni to look closely at Ainge’s 47 draft night selections since 2003.

Bernardoni and I teamed up to rank all of Ainge’s selections from top-to-bottom over the past two decades. We considered each player’s stats, pick positioning, and performance, focused primarily on the time played with the Celtics. 

While there will be plenty of compelling choices to choose from at the top of the rankings, there was no shortage of duds in the mix for the bottom of these rankings. You can check out Part I here. Without further ado, let’s get to Part 2: Marcus Banks and the second round misses.

40. Marcus Thornton (No. 45 overall in 2015 NBA Draft)

The Celtics had already taken three players in the 2015 NBA Draft by the time No. 45 rolled around, so they went with a player they knew they could stash overseas. The problem? Thornton never made it to the NBA. The Celtics renounced his draft rights in 2017 to open up cap room. The Cavs actually signed him to a 10-day deal in 2018 but he cruelly never played a minute and was sent back down to the G-League instead. He’s now playing pro ball in France and is perhaps most famously get confused with the other Marcus Thornton who played for the Celtics during the 2014-15 season. Plenty of No. 45 overall picks don’t make it in the NBA but this one hurts a little bit with Norm Powell going No. 46 overall.

39. Ante Zizic (No. 23 overall in 2016 NBA Draft)

Another draft-and-stash with limited success! (Sensing a trend here). Luckily for Boston, they managed to include Zizic in the deal for Kyrie Irving instead of using up a roster spot on him during his rookie deal. He did get a chance in Cleveland last year, starting 25 games for the rebuilding Cavs but failed to impress during his extended minutes. He’s a strong rebounder but a slow-footed defender who doesn’t offer much rim protection at 6-foot-10. That and a lack of shooting range makes him an expendable part in the NBA these days. The Cavs did not pick up his fourth-year rookie option for a modest $2.2 million for next year so he will be a free agent this fall. The guess here is that he heads back overseas to resume his career.

38. Ben Bentil (No. 52 overall in 2016 NBA Draft)

A harsh assessment for the former PC star but this was a puzzling pick for the C’s. Bentil was the sixth(!) player drafted by Boston in the 2016 NBA Draft. To say there was no roster room for him would be an understatement. He played for Boston in summer league and was waived after three preseason games as expected. Bentil did catch on with Mavericks later in 2017 and has spent the rest of his career overseas since then. Can’t expect much out of the No. 51 pick but C’s would have been better off moving this one for a future second or cash instead of taking a player they simply didn’t have room for.

37. Marcus Banks (No. 13 in 2003 NBA Draft)

Ainge’s first-ever draft pick as part of the Celtics' front office was a tantalizing choice on paper. Banks was a speedy guard out of UNLV who looked like he would be a menace on the open floor in the NBA. Despite lasting eight seasons in the NBA, Banks was never able to put it all together and live up to his status as a lottery pick. He suffered from an inconsistent jumper his entire career (32 percent from 3 on low volume) and never possessed a great feel for the game as a point guard with an assist rate that was usually on par with his turnover rate. The Celtics tried to move on him from early, dealing him after his rookie season initially to the Lakers in a trade that was partially rescinded (Banks returned to Boston) after Gary Payton initially refused to report to Boston. A year and a half later, Banks still had a little bit of trade value left, so the C’s packaged him with Ricky Davis and Mark Blount to the Wolves in 2006 for a future first-round pick along with bad salaries. Banks eventually bounced around the league as a backup guard for a couple more seasons before his NBA career came to a close at age 29.

Banks was one of several busts during the 2003 NBA Draft, which keeps him on the lower end of this list. Luke Ridnour had a solid career at No. 14 overall while David West went at No. 18 to New Orleans were the biggest names that went after him in this range, but there were also plenty of duds in the teens with Troy Bell and Reese Gaines failed to make it in the NBA.

36. Kris Joseph (No. 51 in 2013 NBA Draft)

Incredibly, Joseph had two tenures with the Celtics over his one year NBA career. He was waived first waived in January 2013 to open up a roster spot midseason before his contract became fully guaranteed. The Nets eventually snagged him on a 10-day at the end of the 2013 season, with Joseph suiting up for them in 10 games. That marriage was short-lived for the former Syracuse standout as the Nets included him for salary matching purposes in the KG/Pierce blockbuster deal on draft night in 2013. The Celtics waived him after the completion of the deal, sparing Joseph from taking part in one of the most awkward press conferences ever. After being waived by the Magic in training camp in 2013, Joseph has spent his career playing in France, Canada and Portugal.

35. Demetrius Jackson (No. 45 in 2016 NBA Draft)

Projected to be a first-round pick in some circles, Jackson was one of the freefallers of the 2016 NBA Draft before the Celtics snatched him up at No. 45 overall. He only lasted one uneventful year in Boston (mostly spent in Maine) before being cut for cap room in the summer of 2017. He’s bounced around the NBA since then, landing stops in Houston and Philadelphia before recently suiting up for the Lakers’ G-League affiliate. Even though Jackson played just one year in Boston, he will continue getting yearly paychecks for nearly $100,000 until 2024 from the C’s after they stretched his cap hit out over seven seasons.

34. Jordan Mickey (No. 33 in 2015 NBA Draft)

It’s never great for a player to see the peak of their career in summer league (12.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg) but that’s what happened with Mickey in the summer of 2015. His agent took advantage of the strong stretch and negotiated the biggest contract for a second-round pick in NBA history, worth $5 million over four seasons with the first two years fully guaranteed. Mickey was paid like a late first-round pick but he never ended up playing like one at the NBA level. He put up big numbers in the G-League but the skills didn’t translate to the NBA level as he appeared in just 41 games over two seasons for Boston and was a complete non-factor on the offensive end (1.4 ppg). Like much of the roster, Mickey was waived in the summer of 2017 to open up cap room and he landed with the Heat on a one-year deal. Another uneventful year left him out of the league, with the 25-year-old last suiting up for Real Madrid.

The miss hurt Boston with some valuable second-rounders taken after him in the draft (Josh Richardson, Pat Connaughton, Richaun Holmes, Norm Powell).

33. Justin Reed (No. 40 in 2004 NBA Draft)

The former Ole Miss star played the best basketball of his career after the Celtics traded him midway through his second season as part of the multi-player deal with the Wolves. He became a regular in the Wolves rotation after minimal playing time in Boston and parlayed that into a three-year contract worth $4.3 million. Reed was out of the NBA season one year later and bounced around the G-League and overseas for the rest of his career. He tragically passed away in 2017 due to cancer.

32. Jabari Bird (No. 56 pick in 2017 NBA Draft)

The late pick was on the verge of playing his way into an NBA career after a strong summer league showing in 2018. That combined with a good two-way campaign over the 2017-18 season led to the Celtics to reward him with an NBA roster spot heading into the 2018-19 season. Bird’s tenure with Boston came to an abrupt halt in the fall of 2018 when Bird was charged with domestic violence, kidnapping and a host of other disturbing charges after an incident involving his girlfriend in Boston. Bird was placed on leave from the team while the incident was being investigated and was traded and waived months later.

31. Kadeem Allen (No. 53 pick in 2017 NBA Draft)

The guard spent one year in Boston before becoming a victim of a roster crunch at the end of the 2018 season. He’s played on a two-way deal for the last two seasons in New York, putting up some solid numbers during the 2018-19 season when he averaged 9.9 points and 4.8 assists in 19 games with the Knicks. However, he was waived last week as two-way contract by New York likely because he would no longer be eligible for a two-way deal starting next season (three years max). The 27-year-old will hit the open market this fall trying to find a new NBA home or perhaps will head overseas for a bigger payday.