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Several agents of NBA hopefuls are discouraging their clients from any involvement with two particular franchises in the league, the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings, each for their own individual reasons.
Sacramento has developed a reputation of being the most dysfunctional team in the league, from their front office and coaching hirings, to their wishy-washy owner — who's had one after another change of mind in who should be part of the organization — often leading to a myriad of rumors surrounding the team throughout the entire NBA season.
“It would be malpractice to let my clients play for them,” one longtime agent told ESPN Insider Chad Ford. “I’ve had clients there. It’s still the most dysfunctional front office in the league, by a mile. How can you trust those guys with one of your players? It’s going to take a long time to build that trust.”
The Kings hired highly-respected Scott Perry as the Assistant VP, to run alongside Vlade Divac, but it hasn't proved enough to change years of futility and the horror stories that have come out of the organization.
Boston, on the other hand, is one of the most reputable and long-standing franchises in the league. However, the team is in a position of adding another key established player, rather than bring a rookie from the ground up and assert him as a starter. That has been the case with the No. 3 overall pick, Jaylen Brown — an explosive, highly-touted rookie out of Cal, who is stuck playing subpar minutes on a very deep team.
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“I have deep respect for the Celtics,” one agent told Ford. “They may have the best GM and head coach in the league. But I’d have to understand what the plan would be for my client before I let them come. They are loaded at every position. There’s a real danger that they take a player and either he plays a limited role of the bench, or he becomes an asset to be traded to a situation that we’re uncomfortable with. It’s tough.”
The concern runs in the lines of having an NBA-ready product unable to showcase talent due to the Celtics now having the Brooklyn Nets‘ pick (boasting a 25 percent chance to land the No. 1 pick) — one that could give these stars plenty of run and ample playing time to display their mettle.
Brad Stevens is as player-friendly as a coach can get and he has made plenty of efforts to get Brown some playing time, even giving him 20 starts this season. But the fact remains that in a team that only has the power forward spot open as a legitimate contending starting job, it makes getting drafted by them that much more of a challenge from the get go.
A player like Markelle Fultz, who plays the point guard position and is slated to go No. 1 overall, could be vastly limited to spot minutes with bona fide starters like Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley in the backcourt.
The wild card that is the NBA Draft Lottery will take place Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, an event which will decide the fate of many of these NBA hopefuls and change the future of more than one NBA team.
