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Celtics draft night ends with four trades, four future picks, and one player
The Celtics have moved into the first round of tonight’s NBA draft after their trade for Kristaps Porzingis. They now have the 25th pick in the draft and nothing in the second round.
They could use the pick in a trade because there are still rumors floating around that Brad Stevens is not done making moves. They could also try to take a swing on a player and hope he has enough to give off the bench as a rookie to be useful.
I’ll be live blogging the draft here like I would a game. I'm at the Auerbach Center where Stevens and his staff will be running the draft and speaking about it (and the Porzingis trade) afterwards.
For now, here’s a quick look at what some of the mock drafts are saying about the 25th pick.
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper, F, Marquette
“Explosive athlete in all regards. He leaps out of the gym, has a quick first step, and moves very well laterally. He posted outlier-level athletic testing numbers at the NBA draft combine.
He exemplifies the spirit of a role player. He’ll chase down a rebound, dive on the floor for a loose ball, and race to get back on defense …
Lacks playmaking skill. He gets a bit sloppy with the ball even when initiating simple handoffs.
He needs to be more of a straight-line attacker rather than dancing and spinning with the ball.”
- Ryan Rupert, G/F, New Zealand
“After losing some depth in the Smart trade, the team could be in the market for a wing with the versatility to defend point guards, as it has quite a bit of shot creation already with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. Rupert's ability to wreak havoc with his 7-foot-2 wingspan and high intensity level could be interesting at this stage of the draft.”
- Brandin Podziemski, G, Santa Clara
“The 6-5 shooting guard averaged 22.1 points and 4.1 assists per 40 minutes and was one of the most impressive guards during the NBA Draft Combine.”
- Colby Jones, F, Xavier
“He can operate in ball screens, and he can lead the break as a distributor. Jones also is a sharp defensive player who rotates well, can guard one through three on the ball and makes impact plays as a shot blocker and transition starter in passing lanes.”
Live coverage continues below. Hop into the comments section to play along