A night for the future
C’s in ultimate lottery position
The Celtics don’t hold all the cards as they head into this evening’s NBA draft lottery, but they hold more than anyone else in the race for the top pick or, failing that, a place in the top three in the June 22 dispersal.
Still reaping the rewards from the 2013 trade that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, the Celts, after using that club’s first-round spot to take Jaylen Brown at No. 3 last year, have exercised their option to trade opening-round positions with the Nets this year. And they get Brooklyn’s firstround pick unencumbered again next summer.
Tonight the Celts, according to the odds of the pingpong ball combinations, will have a 25 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick and a 64.3 percent chance to land in the top three.
“We’re in good position, and we’re prepared for whatever happens,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said before last night’s 115105 win over Washington in Game 7 of the conference semifinals at the Garden. “We know the range, and we’ve been preparing for that. But now it’s out of our control, and I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what I can’t control.”
The deal with the Nets was out of the Celts’ control as soon as it was made. All they knew at the time was that the championship contention window had closed for the core, and they were getting assets for older players.
Now the C’s are in an extremely rare position, being a team that’s played this deep into the playoffs and will have no worse than a top-four pick. The most prominent example of this was when the Celts won the 1986 NBA championship and were able to select second overall in the draft soon after via a trade with Seattle. But that ended in tragedy when Len Bias died days later.
San Antonio had a good core, but injuries allowed the Spurs to get into the lottery and take Tim Duncan in 1997 and build a perennial contender.
“It is rare, and it is good fortune,” said Ainge. “We’re just hoping to take advantage of it.
“Never did we think that this would be the case, that the pick would be this high — and last year’s pick with Jaylen, who we think is going to be fantastic. I think that we thought that maybe by next year that they would be getting old, but anyways it’s good fortune for us and hopefully we can take advantage of it.”
Another bit of importance from tonight will be the mere fact that the Celtics will know precisely where the pick will be. The lack of such knowledge wasn’t helpful as Ainge discussed trades prior to the February deadline.
The Celts will obviously look at all avenues to improve in the offseason, and deals will be high on that map. But now teams will have a better idea of what they will be willing to give up if the pick is in play.
“I think it depends on the pick,” Ainge said. “I don’t know the answer to that. Nobody knows the answer to that, but there’s certain clarity that maybe everybody feels more comfortable with.
“But, yeah, the higher the pick, the higher the value. How much higher? Every draft is different, and every circumstance is different. But, yeah, the No. 1 pick is higher than No. 4.”
In any case, the Celtics feel comfortable that, even if they don’t trade the pick, they have the chance to add a very talented player.
“We’d like to get as high a pick as possible, but I do think that it’s pretty good at the top of the draft — just not a clear-cut favorite or best player at this stage,” said Ainge. “But I think that the best player in this draft down the road could come anywhere from 1 through 10.
“These kids are so young, it’s hard to pinpoint. Like, who’s going to grow two inches? Who’s going to learn to shoot the fastest? And also who’s going to get an opportunity to play? I think that’s a big factor.”
‘We’re in good position, and we’re prepared for whatever happens.’ — DANNY AINGE On tonight’s draft lottery