The Boston Celtics are in the middle of an NBA playoff run, but it's never too early to start preparing for the future.
That's what ESPN had in mind during its recent NBA mock draft, where NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony had the Celtics taking Gabriele Procida, a sharpshooting forward out of Fortitudo Bologna in Italy, with the No. 53 overall pick.
Procida measured in at 6-foot-7 and 193 pounds with a 6-foot-8 wingspan at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
Procida shot 39% from 3-point range in 26 games for Fortitudo Bologna in the 2021-22 season, averaging seven points and three rebounds in that span. Givony likes what he's seen out of the 19-year-old athletically, as well.
The Celtics are no strangers to the draft-and-stash strategy, having taken French guard Juhann Begarin in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Boston has some business to take care of before they start focusing on the draft, but it's interesting to see what NBA analysts believe they could be looking for come June.
