The Boston Celtics are pretty confident with the makeup of their team at the moment. So much so, that they're already looking two years ahead in terms of acquiring players through the draft.
According to Celtics insider Adam Himmelsbach, Boston is hoping that they do not acquire the first-round pick that is owed to them via the Memphis Grizzlies.
We’ve know for a while that the Celtics don’t want the Grizzlies’ pick to convey, but I was a little unsure about how badly, because the No. 9 overall pick would still be a trade chip. But a Cs source tonight said they *really* don’t want it this year.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) April 8, 2019
First, let's lay out the premise here.
Back in 2014, the Celtics traded Jeff Green to the Grizzlies in exchange for a future first-round pick. That pick is top-8 protected in the upcoming draft, which means that if Memphis fall out of the first eight picks in the lottery, they will need to forfeit the pick to the C's.
However, what makes this interesting is the fact that the pick is top-6 protected in 2020, and becomes completely unprotected in 2021. Simply put, the sooner the Grizzlies offload the owed pick to Boston, the lower it gets. This is the motivation behind their desire to turn the pick over to the Celtics at the soonest possible time, and avoid having to give a higher pick to Boston next year or the season after that.
This is also why the Celtics are willing to wait it out, and hope that two years from now, they are able to get a much higher pick rather than potentially the ninth overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Pretty complicated, right?
In the end, though, it's still a win-win scenario for the Celtics no matter what, as they can still use the pick (if they get it) this summer as a trade chip. Did anyone say Anthony Davis?
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