The NBA draft will be held on Thursday and the Boston Celtics have two first round picks, the 16th and 28th picks overall, and two second round picks as well. As reported on earlier at the Inquisitr, there are rumblings that the Celtics are looking to package a couple of picks and move up in the draft, but if they stay where they are, here are a couple of names you could hear the commissioner call.
Bobby Portis is who Yahoo Sports sees the Celtics taking with their first selection. In their fifth version of the mock draft , the Arkansas sophomore power forward fell to Boston. Portis is known as a smart player that isn’t the most athletic guy on the court. He plays strong defense and is decent offensively. He knows his strengths and doesn’t force shots that he shouldn’t be taking. Portis is not much of an outside threat. He was named the SEC Player of the Year, an award which is selected by the league’s coaches, this past season.
This selection would be good for Boston as they need as many big guys as they can get, especially with Brandon Bass likely heading elsewhere through free agency.
Another possibility for the Celtics is Kelly Oubre out of Kansas. ESPN’s draft guru Chad Ford has Boston taking the freshman in the seventh version of his mock draft . The scouting report on Oubre has him as an athletic kid that is good defensively. He is also pretty good on the glass. He may be a bit of a tweener who needs to bulk up a bit to be able to play power forward in the NBA.
Coach Brad Stevens would have to work with Oubre and allow him to develop into a player that could hold his own down low, but Stevens has shown he has a knack for putting guys in a position to succeed.
Celtics fans have dreams of general manager Danny Ainge putting together a package that would allow them to move up and select Willie Cauley-Stein out of Kentucky. The seven footer would fit Boston’s need of a guy to guard the rim. Cauley-Stein was named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year last season. The one huge drawback is there are medical reports that show an ankle injury may not have healed properly.
We will all find out on Thursday just how active the Boston Celtics are and what holes the C’s will have left to fill through free agency. It should be an exciting night for Celtics fans.
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