On Monday evening, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics finally broke through and won their first NBA championship since the Bush administration with a Game 5 victory over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA finals, four games to one. Tatum had far and away the best game of his Finals career in this one, scoring 31 points and dishing out 11 assists, but it wasn't quite enough to snag the Finals MVP trophy, which instead went to Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown, who was more consistent throughout the series and also played some excellent defense against Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
In theory, the Celtics should be set at least for the next year or two, with Tatum and Derrick White both set to sign extensions this offseason and Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis both under contract past next season. However, that isn't stopping some from speculating about what the Celtics might do in the upcoming NBA Draft, where they own the number 30 overall pick after finishing this regular season with the most wins in the league by a country mile.
Arguably the most high profile name in this year's draft is Bronny James, son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. The younger James has long been rumored to be a fit with the Lakers with their second round selection to join forces with his father, but one person who has other plans is podcaster and noted Celtics fan Bill Simmons of The Ringer.
“No, everyone says this draft sucks, the Celtics are so deep like they have guys like (Jordan) Walsh can’t even get on the court right. If he entered this draft he’d probably be in that 30-40 range anyway,” said Simmons, per the Bill Simmons Podcast. “Anyone in this draft isn’t going to play for them, it’ll probably be a stash guy, they’re probably going to have to carry the salary. Why not take Bronny and basically hold him hostage, because all these other teams want him, I’m saying for the asset. Oh the Lakers, you want him? Well we took Bronny, give us Max Christie, how bad do you want him. I would say Bronny the asset at 30, as a trade thing, is worth more than anyone they can get there.”
An interesting plan
As Simmons noted, this draft class is projected by many pundits to be the least talented pool of players in years. Thus, in theory, it would make sense that Bronny James' name alone might generate more value at the 30th spot than any lesser known player would who likely would not see the floor in the Celtics' rotation for the foreseeable future.
Simmons' plan would indeed test the Lakers' willingness to Bronny James and their loyalty to his father should LeBron truly want to play with his son, but it wouldn't necessarily be the most morally sound idea. However, moral sanctity is not exactly what has led the Celtics to becoming the winningest franchise in the NBA over the course of their many championship runs.
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