Now in our fifth edition of our series ranking each of the Boston Celtics’ draft picks Nos. 1 through 60, we arrive at pick No. 55, which the Celtics have drafted at a total of five times in their history.
The prospects chosen by Boston here were taken between 1957 and 2011, with no stars as one might expect this late in the draft. Still, it features at least one face which should be familiar to most Celtics fans of today.
As we have done with each installment of this series, we employ a rubric which rates the picks by what they accomplished with Boston as its focus, and then reviews what they’ve done with other teams (or in other walks of life) if the race is a tight one.
So, with these issues noted, who are the best No. 55 picks in Celtics history?
No. 5: Rudy Finderson – guard – Brandeis
Finderson was drafted out of Brandeis in 1958, that much we know. But even his profile in the Brandeis Basketball Hall of Fame has almost no information on their all-time leading scorer.
It does note he was an AP Little All-American, as well as a two time All New England and district All-American as well. Transaction records of the Celtics indicate he did not make the final roster.
That’s all we know.
No. 4: Jon McKinney – forward – Norfolk State
McKinney is a similarly mysterious character: a 6-foot-6 forward out of Norfolk State in 1970, there isn’t much more detail than we had with Finderson.
McKinney averaged 32.2 points and 17.9 rebounds per game in his senior season with the Spartans, so it’s not hard to see why Boston was interested. What we don’t know is why they also declined to roster the Norfolk state product — or what he did afterwards.
No. 3: Dick Brott – center – Denver
Brott was a 6-foot-8 center taken out of the University of Denver in the 1957 NBA Draft, where he had set a school record for career rebounds that stands to this day.
Brott was waived before he would play for Boston, but would play in the American Basketball League for the Cleveland Pipers in that sole season of the league’s existence.
No. 2: Kris Clack – small forward – Texas
Clack is the first player drafted at 55 by the Celtics who actually, verifiably made a career for himself playing basketball professionally.
A 6-foot-5 small forward who was drafted from the Longhorns in 1999, Clack also did not make the final team for the Celtics. But he did have a long career playing overseas, and in the XBL and D League.
No. 1: E’twaun Moore – guard – Purdue
Moore is a face all but the most recent Celtics fans will recognize, taken from the Boilermakers by Boston in the 2011 NBA Draft. He actually spent the start of his first season playing in Italy due to the lockout, joining the Celtics in late December to start his rookie campaign.
He would spend just that lockout-shortened season with Boston, traded in the offseason with JaJuan Johnson, Sean Williams and Jon Diebler to the Houston Rockets in a three-team deal that netted the Celtics Courtney Lee. He averaged 2.9 points and 0.9 assists per contest over 38 games with Boston.
