BOSTON – The path for the Boston Celtics to draft the player of their choice at No. 3 just got a little clearer following a trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets.
The Lakers shipped out Timofey Mozgov and D’Angelo Russell to the Nets, in exchange for Brook Lopez and the 27th pick (the pick the Celtics swapped with the Nets as part of the 2013 trade between Boston and Brooklyn).
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That means the Lakers will select UCLA’s Lonzo Ball with the No. 2 pick, while Boston will likely decide between Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Duke’s Jayson Tatum.
But that decision might have become a little easier for the Celtics when Jackson reportedly opted to not work out for the team on Tuesday which would make the second time he has canceled a workout for Boston.
The Celtics had the number one overall pick, but traded it to Philadelphia for the No. 3 pick and a future first-round selection in 2018 or 2019.