C's reps in Italy to watch Adidas Eurocamp ahead of draft

CSNE

A.SHERROD BLAKLEY

BOSTON – Workouts leading up to the June 25 NBA draft at the Boston Celtics practice facility won’t resume until next week.

But that doesn’t mean the Celtics are taking some time off – not even close.

The Celtics, like most NBA teams, have representatives in Treviso, Italy this week to watch the Adidas Eurocamp which features some of the top international talent.

Getting as firm a grip on the best players overseas is always a consideration for the Celtics. But it’s even more of a possibility this year with the foursome of picks Boston has in the draft which includes a pair of second-rounders (No. 33 and No. 45 overall).

There’s a lot of logic behind Boston looking long and hard at international talent, whether it be a player who can come in and compete for a roster spot now, or someone who still needs a year or so to develop overseas.

Look for the Celtics to find a way to either unload or stash a player with one of its picks, because it’s hard to envision the Celtics opening the 2015-16 season with four rookies on the roster.

And while keeping on top of the best international talent is smart, the idea of Boston drafting an overseas player would indeed be a departure from what they have done historically.

The Celtics have only drafted six international players ever, with the most recent being Brazilian Lucas Nogueira, who in 2013 was drafted with the No. 16 pick by Boston, but immediately traded to Dallas for the rights to their No. 13 pick which was used to select Kelly Olynyk, who played at Gonzaga but grew up in Canada.

Either way, Boston landed an international player with its first round pick that year. (And yes, Canada does count!)

The Celtics’ first dip into international waters via the draft came in 1982 when they selected Greek guard Panagiotis Giannakis in the ninth round with the 205th pick overall.

Not surprisingly, he never played a game for the Celtics which turned out to be a good career move for him.

He became a Greek basketball legend as a player, and later enjoyed tremendous success coaching their national team.

The most successful international player drafted by Boston has to be Dino Radja, a second-round pick of the Celtics (40th overall) in 1989.

Contractual issues delayed Radja’s NBA debut by four years, but waiting for the 6-foot-11 big man would prove to be worth it.

He would spend four seasons in the NBA, all with the Celtics, and averaged 16.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

The Celtics would love to find a player with Radja-like talent in the draft at any of their respective draft positions, but it’s not likely to be an international player.

This year’s draft isn’t particularly deep with talent outside the United States, with the best international players being scooped up quickly.

Croatian shooting guard Mario Hezonja will be a top-10 selection and Russian big man Kristaps Porzingis won’t get past the lottery (top-14). Those are the only two international players who are sure-fire first round picks.

Boston’s first pick of the night comes in at No. 16 which means the Celtics would have to move up in order to acquire either player.

However, neither seems to be a player that Boston covets enough to cash in some of their assets in order to move closer to the top of the draft board.

Whether a player competed overseas or abroad, whether he’s a teenager with a few months of college experience under his belt or was a four-year starter, the mindset of the Celtics heading into the draft is rather simple.

“We’re looking for basketball players that bring transferable skills to this level,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “Sometimes those (older) guys are more ready than others. But sometimes the other guys have higher upside. That’s where Danny (Ainge, the Celtics president of basketball operations) and his staff have done the research and figure out the directions they want to go or certainly in regard to inviting guys to work out.

Stevens added, “We’ll continue to sit down and talk. They’ll continue to sit down and talk as a staff. Coaches will occasionally poke their noses in there, throw out an opinion. These guys do a great job.”

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Actually, "Adidas Eurocamp" sounds like a great name for a player in today's basketball world.

Sam

Not surprised that the Cs are there watching. It is what we would expect them to do.

Ainge and his assistants certainly seem to do all the leg work necessary in evaluating players from any and everywhere.

Now all I ask is three rotation players to be added to next year's roster who can help us get to 50 wins. Lots of ways to get them and I will leave that to the front office.