The Boston Celtics hold two picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens informed reporters on Tuesday that the players selected on Wednesday and Thursday might not see much playing time during the 2024-25 season.
Stevens also mentioned that the team plans to use both of its picks (No. 30 and No. 54) to make selections.
Brad Stevens: “It’ll be hard for any draft pick to crack our rotation when healthy.”
The statement isn’t particularly surprising, especially considering that the Celtics are the NBA champions. They had one of the best and deepest rosters during the 2023-24 campaign, and Stevens and the team expect the entire starting lineup (plus sixth man Al Horford) to return in the fall.
Barring injury or a significant surprise, Boston’s backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, along with superstar forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, will all return as starters. It was announced on Tuesday that center Kristaps Porzingis will undergo surgery “in the coming days” to address his torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, injuries he sustained during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The Latvian missed Games 3 and 4 of the series against the Dallas Mavericks but returned for Game 5. If Porzingis isn’t ready for the start of the season, Horford, a career-long starter before this season, could easily step into the starting lineup.
Beyond those six experienced players, Boston relied on 28-year-old center Luke Kornet, buzzer-beater specialist Payton Pritchard, and sharpshooting small forward Sam Hauser for the bulk of its bench minutes.
Notably, the Celtics’ two rookies, Jordan Walsh and Drew Peterson, played just nine and three regular-season games, respectively. Walsh appeared in only three playoff contests, while Peterson didn’t see any postseason action.
The last Boston rookie to have a significant role was Pritchard, who played in a team-high 66 games during his debut 2020-21 campaign, averaging 7.7 points and 19.2 minutes per game.
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