Boston Celtics Should Trade Third Pick

 

By: Ethan Gaffney

The NBA draft holds the future for many talented young basketball players who have practiced on their game with hard work and dedication. The talents of these young men have propelled them through high school and into college and hopefully with the NBA draft on the horizon, their talents and hard work will be rewarded by being drafted to one of the 32 teams in the NBA. The NBA draft gives the opportunity for young men to make a future for themselves. The fates of these young basketball prospects are not the only factor that makes the NBA draft relevant for sports fanatics, but also the future of people’s favorite team. One player can revolutionise a diminished ball-club to a championship caliber franchise, and this year the Boston Celtics are in that powerful position.    

This year the Boston Celtics own the third pick in the upcoming 2016 NBA draft, held in June. With arguably the two most talented prospects heavily favored to be drafted #1 and #2 (Ben Simmons from LSU and Brandon Ingram from Duke), I believe that the Celtics should trade the third pick in the NBA draft.

I think the Celtics should trade the third pick in the NBA draft because Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram are the only players in the draft that would fit on the Celtics roster. The Celtics are a guard heavy team with solid contributors such as, Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, and Evan Turner. During the 2015-16 NBA season these Celtics guards used their quickness and athleticism to play great defense which turned into many easy transition points throughout this year. The Celtics were ranked 5th in defensive efficiency (according to ESPN.com). What the Celtics have in quick speedy guards, they lack in height and inside scoring. Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram would be perfect for this Celtics team with the height and strength that they possess in the paint. But because Simmons and Ingram will most likely be the first two picked, I don’t think the Celtics should waste their time on anyone else who is in the draft even though there are many other prospects who are very talented.

The Celtics should use their third pick to bait other teams into a trade, and maybe obtain even more draft picks for the future. For me personally there isn’t a lot of value this year with the third pick in the draft but for most other teams a number three first round draft pick is precious and desirable, so desirable that teams would trade nearly anything for it. I think Celtics have good leverage when it comes to trading the pick.

So what I would really love to see the Celtics do this offseason is go for a free agent. This year many superstar contracts have reached their end and players who know they are valuable will go anywhere for a max deal or where they think is the best  opportunity to win a championship. Some of these free agents include: Kevin Durant, Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, DeMar Derozan, Harrison Barnes, and Pau Gasol. One of these players is the last puzzle piece that the Celtics need to really compete with the tougher competition in the NBA, and ultimately be a contender for the championship. Of course these players will be heavily recruited by mostly every team this offseason (mostly Kevin Durant) but I would never think about trading our draft pick if I wasn’t confident that we could sign one of these free agents this summer.

Like I said before, the Celtics have an up-tempo fast offense that many players find attractive and fun. I think with our all-star point guard, Isaiah Thomas, we can bring big free agent names to Boston because they respect Thomas’s game and what he’s been able to accomplish this year with his unselfish play knowledge for the game. Who wouldn’t want to play alongside him?

I also think the Celtics have a great chance of signing one of these free agents because the Celtics have a lot of cap room in their team budget, and will be able to give a bigger check to a free agent than he might be offered at another franchise. Lastly who wouldn’t want to go to a team and city where the Celtics play? In Boston there is a rich history of winning where the fans are terrific and where the city is beautiful.

With all these ingredients, I believe we can receive a much better player from free agency than we would get from the draft. With the success that we have made in the last couple of years and the foundation where the Celtics have been made on, I believe that the one piece that will lead us to utopia is hidden in free agency and not the 2016 NBA draft.