The Celtics, along with 16 other teams, now know what first-round selection they hold in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Unless it trades the pick, Boston will make the 16th overall selection during the July 29 draft, the NBA announced Tuesday. The league decided on multiple draft tiebreakers, and thus revealed the full pre-lottery draft order. The top 14 picks will be determined during the June 22 draft lottery.
Here's the full pre-lottery order:
1. Houston Rockets
2. Detroit Pistons
3. Orlando Magic
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
7. Toronto Raptors
8. Chicago Bulls
9. Sacramento Kings
10. New Orleans Pelicans
11. Charlotte Hornets
12. San Antonio Spurs
13. Indiana Pacers
14. Golden State Warriors
15. Washington Wizards
16. Boston Celtics
17. Memphis Grizzlies
18. Miami Heat (to OKC or HOU)
19. New York Knicks
20. Atlanta Hawks
21. Dallas Mavericks (to NYK)
22. Los Angeles Lakers
23. Portland Trail Blazers (to HOU)
24. Milwaukee Bucks (to HOU)
25. Los Angeles Clippers
26. Denver Nuggets
27. Brooklyn Nets
28. Philadelphia 76ers
29. Phoenix Suns
30. Utah Jazz
And here are some of the details on the tiebreakers, as well as the lottery probabilities:
Obviously, the 16th pick isn't nearly as interesting as a top 10 selection. But that doesn't mean there's no hope of selecting a quality player, as the Celtics proved when they took Terry Rozier 16th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. Although, they took Guerschon Yabusele in the same spot the next year, so it really is a toss up.
The only Hall of Famer drafted at No. 16: John Stockton.
As for the currently rostered (and disappointing) Celtics players, they're busy preparing for Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoffs series against the Brooklyn Nets. Boston trails 1-0 in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 set for Tuesday night.
