Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo published a new mock 2020 NBA Draft Tuesday with a guard-heavy projection for the Boston Celtics to select with their three first-round picks in the upcoming draft.
Woo’s new draft focuses on how teams will adapt in the absence of an NCAA tournament to evaluate prospects — one of several such opportunities that may not be on the table for teams due to the impact of the coronavirus on professional sports and life more generally.
The current standings are used for draft order prediction, and with all of Boston’s potential picks likely to fall outside the 2020 NBA Draft lottery range, it matters less for the purposes of pick order than many teams if the league is able to restart at least part of the regular season.
As things stand now, Boston would pick at No. 17 overall (via the selection owed them by the Memphis Grizzlies), No. 26 overall (their own pick) and 30th overall (the pick owed to them by the league-best Milwaukee Bucks).
For the 17th pick, Woo sees Boston interested in Arizona’s Nico Mannion, a point guard the Celtics Wire recently analyzed among another pool of prospects.
Starting his pitch by noting Mannion’s lack of athleticism, finishing or defensive chops, Woo does not make a convincing case for the Celtics to use their best pick of the draft on such a prospect.
Mannion added rather than dispelled concerns about his game heading into a pre-draft process that won’t calm concerns about his ability to play at the next level; it would not surprise to see his stock drop even further as a result.
For Boston’s own pick, Woo raises an interesting option at the shooting guard position — Barcelona’s Leandro Bolmaro.
19 years old and 6-foot-7, the Argentinian wing is not a good shot from deep (27.9 % from 3-point range in Europe) despite solid form, turns the ball over too much and doesn’t get to the line often (just 1.5 times per contest).
But he’s an above-average defender in a professional league, and a solid distributor with a great feel for the game, and at least some of his warts may be fixable given his young age, like his shooting.
26th overall might be a bit too early given the unknowns of an overseas player under the current, information-poor environment teams are operating in, but perhaps at No. 30, he could be a solid value selection.
Speaking of the final pick of the first round, Woo projects the Celtics to take Minnesota’s Daniel Oturu.
A 6-foot-10 center, who at 20 years old is mobile, strong and able to shoot (36.5 from deep on 1.8 attempts per game), the Golden Gopher is perhaps the most tantalizing of the three players the analyst sees Boston selecting.
While a bit turnover prone, Oturo scores well and with variety, defends the rim, and rebounds at a high clip (11.3 per game in 2019-20) for a surprisingly complete game for a player projected to go late in the first round onwards.
With so many teams operating at a comparative disadvantage to seasons where they have much more of a chance to see prospects play both in end-of-season tournaments and in person, front offices may simply default to the safer pick.
For that reason, players with doubts about their game like Mannion, or limited scouting like Barcelona’s Bolmaro, could be less likely options for many teams.
That the Celtics have three picks to work with may make them less risk-averse than some however, so Woo’s projections may fit such an outlook.
Mannion seems a stretch for Boston’s highest pick, and Bolmaro intrigues — but Oturu is the most likely to be drafted of the three he sees the Celtics interested in.
