The Boston Celtics are one of the few franchises dating back all the way to the birth of the NBA in 1946 when it was still the Basketball Association of America (BAA), so it’s racked up a lot of things, most notably titles at 17 overall.
But it’s also collected a number of players drafted third overall — both that the franchise made the pick as well as providing a new club for players who’d moved on from their first team.
So it’s no surprise the Celtics have a heavy presence in The Athletic’s article by Zach Harper ranking the top No. 3 picks in NBA history; between players Boston drafted and those it picked up later on, there’s 10 in total.
The Celtics Wire decided to compare their overall achievements with what they’ve managed to do in green and white, with a re-ranking at the end strictly for their Bostonian accomplishments.
With that said, let’s get started.
No. 59: Rick Robey – center – 1979-83
Robey was drafted out of Kentucky by the Indiana Pacers, traded to Boston in his rookie year.
He would win a ring with the Celtics as a reserve, but did little else to distinguish his eight seasons in the league. He would retire with a career average of 7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
No. 52: Jim Loscutoff – small forward – 1955-64
Loscutoff was taken by Boston from Oregon in the 1955 NBA Draft, the only team he’d play professionally for.
While Loscy may have his number retired with seven banners to his name, it was in a support role surrounded by legends like Bill Russell and Bob Cousy. He would average 6.2 points, 5.6 boards and 0.7 assists per game over his career.
No. 47: Enes Kanter – center – 2019-20
Kanter never got a chance to play for Kentucky due to the NCAA’s hatred of basketball players earning money, but it did get his NBA career started a bit earlier than it might have at least.
The Turkish big man hasn’t racked up any hardware yet, but he’s assembled a solid career average of 11.6 points and 7.6 points per game. With the Celtics, he’s played a bit below that level so far, logging 8.2 points and 7.7 boards in a more limited role.
No. 46: Raef LaFrentz – center – 2003-06
LaFrentz probably deserves to be ranked above Kanter if we’re being honest given both career numbers and playoff experience.
He had a rough start after tearing his ACL in his rookie season, but scored 10.1 points, 6.1 boards and 1.1 assists per contest over his career. In Boston, those averages dipped a bit to 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
No. 34: Larry Siegfried – guard – 1963-70
Siegfried is the first former No. 3 pick who both played for Boston and had a significant hand in helping earn some of the hardware he has a claim to.
A five-time champion with the Celtics, Siegfried’s best years came with Boston, where he averaged 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He would play two more seasons after his time with the Celtics, his career average dipping to 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest.
No. 22: Jaylen Brown – wing – 2016-20
The first contemporary player drafted by the Celtics in 2016, Brown hasn’t earned much in terms of hardware yet, though he did make All-Rookie in his inaugural campaign.
But, given the Georgian is just starting out career-wise, that he is already ranked pretty highly bodes well for the future as a fourth-year player. He’s averaging 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game so far.
No. 21: Al Horford – big – 2016-19
Al has made quite a career for himself in the NBA, having accumulated five All-Star nominations (two with Boston), an All-Defensive second team nomination (also with Boston) and an All-NBA third team election.
He has averaged a very solid 14 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game over his career to date. With the Celtics, that dipped slightly to 13.5 points, 7 boards and 4.6 assists per game.
No. 18: Jayson Tatum – forward – 2017-20
The Duke product has but one All-Star and All-Rookie nomination each, but is only in the third year of his career, all of which has been with the Celtics.
He may yet be aways from his ultimate ceiling as a player, which is a bit frightening to think about given where he’s already at. Yet to see his third postseason, the St. Louis native has logge a career average of 17.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
No. 14: Pete Maravich – shooting guard – 1979-80
“Pistol” Pete was just a Celtics short-timer, stopping in for a visit on his way out of the league in the final season of his career.
A Hall-of-Famer who recorded five All-Star and four All-NBA nominations to go with his 1977 scoring title and All-Rookie honors, he wasn’t doing much by the time he got to Boston. His career average of 24.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists dropped to 11.5 points, 1.5 boards and 1.1 assists once dealt to the Celtics.
No. 11: Chauncey Billups – guard – 1997-98
Oh, what might have been — Billups was one of many casualties of team president Rick Pitino’s forgettable tenure, blossoming into quite a player after he was dealt from Boston during his rookie campaign.
He racked up a ring, five All-Star, 3 All-NBA and 2 All-Defensive team honors, and 2004 Finals MVP for good measure, averaging 15.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game over his career. Just a rook with the Celtics, he had averaged 11.1 points, 2.2 boards and 4.3 assists per game.
No. 8: Bob Cousy – point guard – 1950-63
One of the greatest point guards to ever play the game, Cousy has an impressive array of accomplishments to his name.
He would win six titles, make 13 All-Star (twice All-Star MVP) and 12 All-NBA teams, win a league MVP and led the NBA in assists for eight seasons, all with Boston save a handful of games at the end of his career. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.2 boards and 7.6 assists per game with the Celtics.
No. 4: Dominique Wilkins – forward – 1994-95
Another Celtics short-timer, Wilkins was a shell of himself by the time he came to the Celtics — but even that shell was pretty impressive.
He made nine All-Star and seven All-NBA teams, led the league in scoring in 1986, won the slam-dunk contest twice, and was named All-Rookie first team, averaging 24.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game over his career. He’d average 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest in his lone season with Boston.
No. 2: Kevin McHale – power forward – 1980-93
Easily the best No. 3 pick in the history of the franchise — and nearly so the league — McHale belongs where he is listed.
Another Celtics lifer, the Minnesotan’s career is a Hall of Fame one, with three banners, seven All-Star games, six All-Defensive team and one All-NBA team selections, two sixth-man awards and an All-Rookie team nod to his credit. He would average 17.9 points, 7.3 boards and 1.7 assists per game over his career.
Reordering for impact with the Celtics
While this list was created to measure the overall achievements of No. 3 overall picks in the history of the NBA, the order would be slightly different for those same players if we just judged them by how they performed while with Boston.
When considering these 12 players’ Celtics tenure only, the order would shift a bit:
- Kevin McHale
- Bob Cousy
- Larry Siegfried
- Jim Loscutoff
- Al Horford
- Jayson Tatum
- Jaylen Brown
- Rick Robey
- Raef LaFrentz
- Enes Kanter
- Dominique Wilkins
- Chauncey Billups
- Pete Maravich
With this rubric, we see a big boost to Siegfried and Loscy while the top and middle remain mostly unchanged. Robey’s lone title matters more here, and while Kanter has had the better overall career despite what the Athletic thinks, LaFrentz has at least played in the postseason for the Celtics so far.
And while much more accomplished players than most of those on this list, Billups, Maravich and especially Wilkins did little in Boston besides attract press attention for a short while.
