How The NBA Lottery Results Affect The Celtics

In the wake of the Celtics’ huge win over the Cavaliers, a lot of fans may have overlooked an event that had big implications on the team before the game. The NBA Draft Lottery took place last night and the Celtics had some big stakes involved. If you remember last year, the Celtics traded the number one pick (Markelle Fultz) for the third pick (Jayson Tatum) and another pick. That other pick could have been tonight if landed between 2-5 from the LA Lakers.

However, the picked stayed at 10 which means that the Philadelphia 76ers keep that pick this year. So what happens now for the Celtics? Well, that pick now becomes the Sacramento Kings pick next year. The Kings are expected to be bad again so it’s very likely that it will be a top 10 pick. HOWEVER, if the Kings win the lottery, the 76ers keep the pick and the Celtics get the 76ers pick. So that would be a disaster obviously but it is very unlikely. The Kings got the second pick tonight so it should help them get out of the basement of the NBA and somewhat closer to the middle pack of the NBA. So the Celtics do lose a trade chip for this summer but considering where they are right now, I think it’s going to work out well for Danny Ainge

Steve Santoro (SVS_1993)