Few should be surprised if the Boston Celtics extend their youth movement into next summer.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz predicted Monday in their latest 2020 NBA Mock Draft the Celtics would draft three college-basketball players: Vanier College’s Karim Mane at No. 25 overall; USC’s Onyeka Okongwu at No. 30 and UVM’s Anthony Lamb at No. 47.
Mane, 19, plays his college ball in Canada but is attracting the interest of major programs in the United States. However, he might be good enough already to consider entering the 2020 NBA Draft. Vanier College in Montreal, is close enough for Celtics scouts and other officials to watch the 6’6″ shooting guard play regularly and gauge his skills accurately.
Okongwu, 18, is a 6’9″ freshman power forward at Southern California. He has played just nine games at the collegiate level but is averaging 17.9 points, 9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, helping the Trojans to a 7-2 start to the season.
Lamb, 21, is a 6’6″ senior forward at Vermont. He’s averaging 16.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists, leading the Catamounts to a 6-3 record to date in 2019.
It’s worth noting ESPN’s and other mock drafts are speculative and how the rest of the 2019-20 NBA season unfolds will affect how the Celtics approach the draft. Boston also might receive the Memphis Grizzlies’ first-round pick in 2020, which would alter the Celtics’ plans.
Nevertheless, ESPN and other mock drafters continue to predict the Celtics will add size and a scoring touch next summer, attributes of which NBA teams can never have too much.
