The Boston Celtics have a 15.6 percent chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft when the draft lottery takes place Tuesday night.
Boston hasn’t owned the top pick since 1980, when it traded the selection, as well as the No. 13 choice, to the Golden State Warriors for center Robert Parish and the No. 3 pick, which turned out to be power forward Kevin McHale.
Parish and McHale each won three NBA titles with the Celtics in the 1980s and made the Basketball Hall of Fame, so it worked out pretty well for Red Auerbach.
The Celtics have a high chance at No. 1 this year because of the multi-player, multi-pick trade with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013 that gave Boston first-rounders from Brooklyn in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as the ability to swap first-rounders in 2017.
This is only the beginning of what should be a hugely successful trade by the C’s. Here are their complete lottery odds for Tuesday night. The sixth pick is the worst-case scenario.
Click to read our pre-lottery NBA mock draft >>
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
