Celtics’ draft night likely busy thanks to cache of picks

Where there’s smoke, there’s Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, but as the NBA draft approaches Thursday, it’s looking more and more like he won’t make fire rubbing picks together.

Selling the crowd on Brown, an explosive but raw 6-foot-6 forward who eventually should be able to play both forward positions, wasn’t going to be an easy process in the midst of such unbridled anticipation. “He would definitely love that”.

“I’m happy to be a part of the family”.

Boston’s first pick comes at number three where rumors have been flying all week.

The Bucks hold the No. 10 overall selection in Thursday’s draft, and GM John Hammond told our Milwaukee affiliate, WISN, that he isn’t ruling out the possibility of a trade on or before draft night.

With LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram being the presumptive No. 1 and 2 overall picks, there is quite a substantial drop off in talent with the next tier of players. In the modern National Basketball Association, a strong but quick swing player who can defend and hit open 3s is extremely valuable. In turn, the Celtics would receive either Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel. It seems like the Celtics are the most willing to actually trade, so them having two picks in the top three is a very likely possibility. It’s a rather Belichickian move, but could work out as a plus-value deal if the Clippers keep making the playoffs.

He raved about Philadelphia during his media availability. Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague changing teams took two players off the board that the Sixers were interested in.

“I think me and my family were comfortable with that decision”, Dunn said Wednesday at pre-draft interviews. Filter down to the college players that guarded at least 300 plays this season and Dunn ranked 15th out of 149 eligible bodies. But Turner, a source said, will not only get interest from the Knicks but from Turner’s hometown Bulls as well.

The Minnesota Timberwolves used the No. 5 pick on Providence junior Kris Dunn, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East who should fit nicely for new coach Tom Thibodeau. Buddy Hield’s name popped up on a Celtics graphic in an apparent technical glitch, but expect the front office to go back-and-forth dozens of times before they are on the clock. “Brett Brown said he liked me”.

While Murray didn’t work out for the Sixers, they saw him work out with expected No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram of Duke in NY.

Although the Celtics are a deep team, they lack star power and are going to have trouble attracting a superstar to come to Boston if they can not get another weapon. “So I’m just listening to them”. I really enjoyed that aspect of his game and it’s only going to improve in the years to come.