This past Tuesday it became official, thanks to great GM’ing by Billy King on the Nets behalf, the Celtics have the third overall pick in the 2016 draft. As a Celtics fan I really would have more so enjoyed snagging a top 2 pick to solidify a shot at Ingram/Simmons, but be careful what you wish for. Here are 5 reasons the Celtics should trade the pick.
#3 – Talent Drop off
Without a doubt, there is a very good amount of talent and future all-stars in this draft, but after Simmons and Ingram, there is a solid size of a talent drop off. Both of those prospects are NBA protege’s/mold’s already in there own rights and look like day one contributors and the others Being seen like they will need some type to shape up. Yes Buddy Hield is good, but I don’t think he will be a future superstar, Murray could be but needs to get into the right situation, Kris Dunn also flat out doesn’t want to come to Boston. Dragan Bender is also a risk I wouldn’t want them to take.
#2 – Stuck In a Rock In A Hard Place
With the first two picks like mentioned solidified talents being Ingram and Simmons, the Celtics will be the trendsetters for the rest of the draft, and that is always a sticky situation. Beantown could go Bender and set the tone for foreign players like Furkan Korkmaz, Zhou Qi, Domantis Sabonis etc and hope he is everything he is marketed to be. Being in this spot they will also set the trend for whether or not certain players start rolling off the board regardless if they don’t go foreign. Being the pick right after the solidified talents of the draft is usually one of the worst best positions to be in. The amount of room for error in this position is sky high as well.
#1 – The Need to acquire a superstar
They need a STAR. Isaiah Thomas if phenomenal, don’t get me wrong but he is not a bonafide superstar. The Celtics have enough assets on the roster and in picks to the bring in someone the caliber of a DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, and or Jimmy Butler and still have some picks to sculpt the future. Acquiring a superstar also sells tickets, jerseys and would make Boston a more foreseeable landing spot for NBA player in free agency. I think the sole reason they haven’t acquired an All-Star is because the roster sculpting is not done just yet, they don’t want to waste all these assets on a 25-26-year-old and the roster sculpting be done when he is 28-29 and have wasted assets they could be worth more now and 3 prime years of that player’s career.
