With the amount of guard talent in the upcoming NBA Draft that is ready to take the league by storm, there is seemingly a different young floor general for every team at the top of the draft.
However, the team most likely to be picking first come draft night courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets, the Boston Celtics, find themselves in a peculiar situation. Since the Boston Celtics already roster an all-star point guard in Isaiah Thomas, the need for another backcourt piece isn’t really there.
Boston could ultimately swap that pick for an elite-level player that has rumored to be on the market such as a Jimmy Butler or a Paul George, but that doesn’t look like the preferred route for Danny Ainge.
Instead, the Celtics will more than likely keep the pick which has players’ agents pondering whether they should keep their clients from working out for Boston prior to the draft. Following from an insider piece by ESPN’s Chad Ford:
Several agents told me that they were considering holding their clients out of workouts with the Boston Celtics as well. The Celtics currently have the best odds of winning the No. 1 pick, and unlike the Kings, they have one of the most respected front offices and coaching staffs in the league…
“I have deep respect for the Celtics,” one agent said. “They may have the best GM and head coach in the league. But I’d have to understand what the plan would be for my client before I let them come. They are loaded at every position. There’s a real danger that they take a player and either he plays a limited role of the bench, or he becomes an asset to be traded to a situation that we’re uncomfortable with. It’s tough.”
This thought process should come as no surprise to anyone. Just last year, we saw Boston draft wing Jaylen Brown 3rd overall and he has played a marginal role in the Celtics rotation all year.
However the draft workouts pan out, the way the Celtics decide to handle their top draft pick will be one of the most intriguing storylines of the offseason.
