Well I guess the lucky tie that Red Auerbach gave Steve Pagliuca wasn't so lucky after all, as the Celtics to the shagrin of many Green Teamers got the 6th pick in last night's NBA Draft Lottery. While the player the C's could get with the 6th pick will probably be very good, it is well documented that there is a big drop off from the top 3 players (Embiid, Parker and Wiggins) to the next level of players that the C's will be picking from.
Since the C's will most likely be looking to draft a power forward/center, the three names currently being thrown around are Noah Vonleh from Indiana ( a local kid who grew up in Haverhill, MA), Julius Randle from Kentucky and Aaron Gordon from Arizona. While all these players will provide the Celtics with some much needed size down by the basket, I am not sure any of these guys are players that you build your franchise around. It is for this reason why I hope the Celtics do whatever it takes to package their 6th overall pick this year, along with other future first round picks, to help trade for Kevin Love. Thanks to the Brooklyn Nets the C's have rights to the Nets first round pick in 2016 and 2018 as well as the ability to swap their first round pick with the Nets in 2017. The Celtics also have the rights the Clippers first round pick next year. Needless to say the Celtics, who will also probably have themselves favorable first round picks for the next couple of years, have many assets at their disposal to use in a potential trade to help land a current proven player in the NBA with the leading candidate being Kevin Love.
The two major hurdles regarding a trade with Kevin Love is 1) he seems to be more interested in going to a team like the Warriors or Bulls who are currently a lot closer to winning an NBA title than the Celtics and 2) He is a free agent after this year so there is no guarantee the Celtics will be able to retain him. If I was Kevin Love I personally would chose the Warriors or Bulls as well. Going from the Timberwolves to the current Celtics is in my mind a pretty lateral move that probably doesn't excite him too much. On the other hand the Celtics are committed to winning (not sure the Timberwolves are that committed), have an All-Star caliber point guard in Rondo and a coach in Brad Stevens who I think would work terrifically with Love's skill set. With the potential of Love and Rondo, the Celtics would be just one player away from solidifying that solid three player core that so many teams try to achieve. Getting the 6th overall pick unfortunately didn't help in the Celtics efforts to land Love. If the C's had gotten a top 3 pick it would have been a lot more attractive to the Timberwolves, but now Danny Ainge will have to be more creative and decide if he wants to rebuild through the draft or figure out a way to use his ample supply of draft picks and become contender through trades.
Needless to say receiving the 6th pick in the lottery last night, combined with the Bruins getting eliminated from the playoffs last week and the Red Sox current five game losing streak, it has been a very tough week being a Boston sports fan. On the bright side if it makes Celtics fans feel any better, the C's did select Larry Bird with the 6th overall pick in the 1978 draft.
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