The Ringer released an updated mock draft today that sees the Boston Celtics trade up, and with all the potential options still on the board, they manage to disappoint with their plans for Boston’s draft options.
The Celtics possess three first round draft picks (Nos. 14, 26 and 30) in this draft as well as a fourth pick late in the second round at No. 47, and at least at present do not have enough roster slots to house them all.
At the same time, given the flatness of the draft after the handful of prospects seen as having star potential are off the board, it hasn’t been a more amenable draft landscape to move back for a team either.
The Celtics have reportedly met with Houston wing Nate Hinton https://t.co/CMCw1mvcnM
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 24, 2020
But the Celtics need to hit on one of their picks for a stable, useful rotation players, meaning they can afford to take a big swing with one of the picks on a player who could develop overseas.
But, they cannot afford to develop multiple young prospects while also trying to contend with so many already on the roster — even if they slim down on the youth movement currently on the roster.
So what are we griping about exactly? Let’s take a look.
No. 14 – RJ Hampton – guard
Hampton is a very defensible choice here, and our gripe isn’t with hsi selection per se, but rather what it will entail together with what the Celtics are projected to do later in the draft.
While — as their analysts note — “activating [Hampton’s] talent will require developing his jumper” — he could likely still be a helpful if not especially effective bench player immediately, most of what makes Hampton an interesting prospect is his potential.
Potential Boston can’t afford to wait for and contend — unless they draft a player able to add scoring of some kind off the bench. Which brings us to their next selection for the Celtics…
No. 17 – Precious Achiuwa – forward
‘Wait, the Celtics aren’t supposed to draft here,’ you say? Correct. In this situation, Boston is seen as trading picks 26 and 30 to move up to 17, an interesting wrinkle but the wrong choice.
We say wrong choice not because Achiuwa doesn’t look to have potential — he does, and plenty — but a rookie ‘still in the early stages of his development,’ as the Ringer puts it, isn’t going to work, particularly on a team that already has multiple bigs with questionable jumpers.
Report: Boston Celtics have met with KJ Martin, LaMarr Stevens https://t.co/1qQH0iFeDi
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 27, 2020
With prospects like Aaron Nesmith, Josh Green and Desmond Bane slotted just after this pick, we would be furious to see a selection like Achiuwa in such a trade-up scenario when any of the other three are a much better fit for Boston’s situation, especially considering taking Hampton 14th.
In a scenario that saw No. 14 or 26 used on a prospect who would be stashed for a season like Aleksej Pokusevski or Leandro Bolmaro, taking Precious at 26 or 30 would make sense so long as a high-floor player able to help immediately were also in the mix.
But we’re low on Achiuwa here solely because of the development he’ll need to succeed — and how little chance he’d have with the Celtics.
