Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight

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Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight Empty Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight

Post by bobheckler Tue May 16, 2017 12:41 pm

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2017/05/bulpett_celtics_could_get_more_good_news_in_nba_lottery_tonight



Bulpett: Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight




Steve Bulpett



Tuesday, May 16, 2017




Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight 022317Aingenc5



Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki
Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge.



The Celtics don’t hold all the cards as they head into this evening’s NBA draft lottery, but they hold more than anyone else in the race for the top pick or, failing that, a place in the top three in the June 22 dispersal.

Still reaping the rewards from the 2013 trade that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, the Celts, after using that club’s first-round spot to take Jaylen Brown at No. 3 last year, have exercised their option to trade opening-round positions with the Nets this year. And they get Brooklyn’s first-round pick unencumbered again next summer.

Tonight the Celts, according to the odds of the ping-pong ball combinations, will have a 25 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick and a 64.3 percent chance to land in the top three.

“We’re in good position, and we’re prepared for whatever happens,” Celtics’ president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said before his club took on Washington in Game 7 last night. “We know the range, and we’ve been preparing for that. But now it’s out of our control, and I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what I can’t control.”

The deal with the Nets was out of the Celts’ control as soon as it was made. All they knew at the time was that the championship contention window had closed for the core, and they were getting assets for older players.

Now the C’s are in an extremely rare position, being a team that’s played this deep into the playoffs and will have no worse than a top-four pick. The most prominent example of this was when the Celts won the 1986 NBA championship and were able to select second overall in the draft soon after via a trade with Seattle. But that ended in tragedy when Len Bias died days later.

San Antonio had a good core, but injuries allowed the Spurs to get into the lottery and take Tim Duncan in 1997 and build a perennial contender.

“It is rare, and it is good fortune,” said Ainge. “We’re just hoping to take advantage of it.

“Never did we think that this would be the case, that the pick would be this high — and last year’s pick with Jaylen, who we think is going to be fantastic. I think that we thought that maybe by next year that they would be getting old, but anyways it’s good fortune for us and hopefully we can take advantage of it.”

Another bit of importance from tonight will be the mere fact that the Celtics will know precisely where the pick will be. The lack of such knowledge wasn’t helpful as Ainge discussed trades prior to the February deadline.

The Celts will obviously look at all avenues to improve in the offseason, and deals will be high on that map. But now teams will have a better idea of what they will be willing to give up if the pick is in play.

“I think it depends on the pick,” Ainge said. “I don’t know the answer to that. Nobody knows the answer to that, but there’s certain clarity that maybe everybody feels more comfortable with.

“But, yeah, the higher the pick, the higher the value. How much higher? Every draft is different, and every circumstance is different. But, yeah, the No. 1 pick is higher than No. 4.”




bob
MY NOTE:  We could get good news tonight?  We are getting good news tonight.  Even #4 in a draft this deep is good news.  If this was a draft like the 2009 draft, where there was Blake Griffin and then El Busto Hashem Thabeet, James Harden (he's ok), Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn are your top 6 picks, then I'd say that #4 is problematic (although Steph Curry was #7, but a 6'3" SG?  Who knew he'd be this good?). Either way, we are either getting a top quality pick or a top quality veteran for that pick. As the article points out not knowing exactly which pick it would be hurt trade talks in February. Those clouds are about to pass tonight and all the groundwork laid by Danny 3-4 months ago will start to pay off.


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bobheckler
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Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight Empty Re: Celtics could get more good news in NBA lottery tonight

Post by Matty Tue May 16, 2017 5:49 pm

Oh boy.. oh boy oh boy oh boy....  I'm excited. 

 The worst news we could hear in celtic land is the number 4 pick is ours...   that's my kind of bad news, totally dig it.
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