It’s no secret the Boston Celtics are open for business ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft.
The Celtics own three first-round picks — Nos. 14, 26 and 30 — and recent reports have indicated Boston is willing to package its selections in a trade, either to move up in the draft or to acquire a veteran player.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony added more fuel to the fire Monday by reporting, per sources, that the 14th overall pick belonging to Boston is among the “most prevalent” in recent trade talks.
“Picks belonging to the Sacramento Kings (No. 12), Boston Celtics (No. 14), Wolves (No. 17), Dallas Mavericks (No. 18), Brooklyn Nets (No. 19) and Miami Heat (No. 20) are the most prevalent in trade conversations lately, per sources,” the draft expert wrote in a piece published on ESPN.com.
Now, this doesn’t guarantee the Celtics will make a significant splash before next Wednesday’s draft, but it certainly sounds like Danny Ainge wants to wheel and deal in some capacity. And consolidating picks certainly makes sense with Boston in win-now mode, especially since the C’s already are facing a bit of a roster crunch.
The Celtics, of course, are coming off a season in which they lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. Their core — Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and (maybe) Gordon Hayward — remains in place, but additional tweaks might be necessary for Brad Stevens’ team to get over the hump.
