Boston Celtics keep the 30th pick, select Creighton's Baylor Scheierman

Brad Stevens made history again on Wednesday night, making his first ever first-round selection in the NBA draft. The Celtics kept the pick and went with Creighton lefty shooter Baylor Scheierman. 

Scheierman’s shooting is his primary skill but he does a bit of everything. He can handle the ball and pass and he’s a pretty good rebounder for his position. He’s the only Division I player with at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists, and 300 3-pointers. He was first-team All-Big East, and a third-team All-American. That's a pretty good resume.

He is older, turning 24 before opening night, but that's probably a plus for the Celtics. If they're looking for an instant contributor in the draft, getting a five-year player who is only two years younger than Jayson Tatum isn’t the worst thing in the world. 

He’s 6-foot-6 with a plus-wingspan, so he has good size. He lacks some athleticism, so while he was a capable defender in college, it will be interesting to see how he adjusts at the pro level. 

Scheierman might also partly be a negotiating tool for Stevens in his extension talks with Sam Hauser. Boston has a team option for this upcoming season, but there are a few ways they can go with these negotiations. They could try to get a team-friendly long-term deal done by tearing up the team option and starting a multiyear deal right away. They could also pick up the option and offer Hauser an extension. 

Or they could pick up the option and let Hauser test the free-agent waters. That's a dangerous approach because new CBA rules have set minimum spending rules, which means teams with a ton of cap space are starting to hand out big money deals on short years to guys like Hauser, so he could be in line for a ridiculous overpay for a couple of seasons if he hits the open market. 

If that's the case, then someone like Scheierman can serve as insurance. If the Hauser talks go south somehow and he leaves, then Scheierman has the potential to slide right into that bench shooting role and, maybe, give Boston a little added playmaking and shot-creation at the spot. 

The financial obligation to Schierman is not a small one, even though he’s expected to make about $2.5 million in the first year of a guaranteed rookie scale contract. Because of Boston’s tax situation, they could be paying between $9 and $10 million, maybe more, to keep him on the roster. It’s a big price to pay. 

But shooting is a highly-valued skill in the NBA and especially in Boston. There's a chance he can step into deep bench role right away. They could look at him as cheap depth add even more shooting around star players in second quarter units. He could also develop into a cheap replacement for Sam Hauser if that's how things go. Either scenario would be helpful to the Celtics. 

Of course, there is a second round to the draft on Thursday. There's no guarantee he’ll stay property of the Celtics when that is over. Of course, the Celtics did tweet out a “Welcome to Boston,” so maybe they just like the pick and are prepared to move forward with Scheierman in the mix.