Celtics' draft stash may benefit after Grizzlies lose key piece for season

An important bit of NBA news in regards to the C’s potential 2020 draft positioning was released today out of Memphis as the team announced midseason addition Justise Winslow would miss the remainder of this season due to a hip injury.

The 24-year-old has yet to play a game for Memphis after being acquired from the Miami Heat in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline in February.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Winslow, who averaged 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for the Heat last season had only played 11 games this year due to a back injury. Memphis took on two bad contracts (James Johnson and Dion Waiters) in order to land the No. 10 overall pick from 2015 to help complement Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. on the wing.

An extended training camp was supposed to give Winslow a chance to integrate with his new team in Orlando after getting a clean bill of health during the past few months. However, after taking a hard fall during an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, the Grizzlies are liking playing it safe with one of their top young talents and putting him on ice until next season begins in December.

The Grizzlies are currently the frontrunner to make the West playoffs as the No. 8 seed (3.5 game lead with eight games to play) but there is a strong likelihood they will need to win a play-in situation out West in the 8/9 spots to get in.

Currently, there are four West teams (Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio) that are within four games of the Grizzlies in the standings. While the Spurs and Kings will be shorthanded for seeding games after losing a long list of key players (LaMarcus Aldridge, De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley) for seeding games, other West bubble teams will getting a boost in talent.

A healthy Blazers squad (big men Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins are expected to play) or a Pelicans team that was coming together at the end of the regular season in the play-in matchup look likely to remain within striking distance of Memphis and force a playoff. Without Winslow in the fold for Memphis, their wing depth takes a hit, increasing the likelihood of a play-in situation.

Currently, Memphis is projected to send Boston the No. 17 pick based on their spot in the standings. However, that could fall as low as No. 14 if Memphis loses their play-in tournament matchup or falls below the No. 9 seed altogether (unlikely).

Moving up a couple of pick slots in the middle of the first round may not seem like a big deal for Boston in the big picture but the dynamics for next season are constantly changing in the face of the pandemic. Limited salary cap flexibility for teams moving forward will put an even stronger premium on draft picks for the foreseeable future and the Grizzlies pick is going to be Boston’s best selection for a long time with their future stash of picks depleted after 2020.

Whether the Celtics elect to use the Grizzlies pick or trade it to accumulate more win-now talent or future draft assets, every draft slot matters a little bit. Winslow’s absence may benefit Boston on that front.

Other Celtics practice notes

Scrimmage plans taking shape

Brad Stevens is starting to make plans for the team’s first scrimmage on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It will be a 40-minute game to reduce wear and tear on players but Stevens was hoping it would just be a situational type format instead of an actual game.

“I actually was a proponent of doing the college scrimmage,” Stevens explained, “Where we would be in a closed gym and be able to kind of do it on our own terms and maybe be able to do an offensive segment and have more of a situational game. I think that, obviously, with television involved, it’s going to be more like a regular game.”

With three scrimmages in five days starting on Friday, Stevens plans on taking it very easy on his high-minute players with the expectation that Kemba Walker will sit Friday’s matchup out. There will be no coordination between coaches though about the type of offense and defense both teams will work on.

“We’re only going to play our highest-minute guys for short stints in that first one,” Stevens said. “But everybody is going to approach it differently. Everybody’s going to do it that way. I don’t know if I’m going to talk to Billy (Donovan) about it or not. But usually, we don’t. As you get ready for an exhibition game, somebody throws something at you, it’s great for film, especially if you didn’t know what’s coming. You’re not going to know what’s coming in a regular game either.”

Positive health trends for everyone

The Celtics dealt with more than their fair share of health issues all season long from Gordon Hayward (foot, hand) to Jaylen Brown (hamstring). However, the team’s core has had no setbacks in the ramp-up to the restart so far, beyond Walker’s knee soreness. Hayward feeling strong after dealing with a sore foot off and on since December is a positive indicator according to Stevens.

“He’s been healthy the entire time,” Stevens said of Hayward. “He’s practiced every day, hasn’t missed a drill for two weeks. He, Tatum, Jaylen, all those guys are the same way in that regard. (And) Marcus Smart. Which has been really encouraging. And we feel very fortunate as we enter this time now where we’re scrimmaging. We’ll continue to play through Gordon as a playmaker, scorer and facilitator for others. And so, like a lot of our wings, we’ll utilize his interchangeability. He had a good camp. I thought he and Kemba – and Smart too – did a really good job of really helping as Jaylen and Jayson were taking the next step in ascending. So that’s been a – they’ve all done a good job of that.”

Walker keeps getting closer to live action as well, with Stevens signaling he could take the floor in a scrimmage next week.

“He’s been going every day to some level in the last five days,” Stevens said. “Initially, we thought it would be more every other day. He’s felt great, he’s been able to add strength and those were the two things we needed to prioritize.”

The Celtics have an off-day on Wednesday before returning to the floor on Thursday in their final tuneup.