BOSTON – There’s another three weeks before the NBA draft will be here, and that’s a good thing for the Celtics.
They’ll need all that time to prepare for what’s shaping up to be one of the more challenging drafts this franchise has ever experienced.
There’s always pressure to get the right players via the draft.
How many times do you think the Minnesota Timberwolves have had a “what were we thinking?” moment when they look back at the 2009 draft in which they took Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn at No. 5 and 6, respectively, ahead of Steph Curry at No. 7?
Or the Detroit Pistons selecting Darko Milicic with the No. 2 pick in 2003 ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, to name a few?
And while having eight picks certainly tips the scales in Boston’s favor to getting good players, having so many options doesn’t make the job any easier.
“This is probably the most complicated draft situation we’ve ever been in from the very start,” said Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca. “It’s a giant matrix of where these players are drafted, how good are they, how they fit the system and what their trade value may be.”
The Celtics have spent months – and in some cases, years – scouting various players who will be under consideration for being drafted on June 23.
While the input on who to draft will come from many, ultimately the success and failure of this draft falls upon the shoulders of Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations.
Ainge is committed to doing what he can to get all of Boston’s picks (and that’s assuming they keep them all, which they are not expected to do) right.
But he’s not feeling any more pressure now than he has in past years, even with a new contract extension which was announced earlier this week.
Signing Ainge to a multi-year extension as well as coach Brad Stevens creates a greater sense of stability, which allows basketball decisions to be made with more clarity.
“When there’s not stability and I’ve seen this in the NBA and other professional sports, there’s a … lot of pressure, stress in an organization to do something to ‘save my job,’” Ainge said. “I’ve never felt that pressure from ownership. I’ve felt that internally to win; that’s what drives me, the fear of failing. And so I think that, we have stability and stability is very important just again, from perception of our fan base, the people around us, the league, players all those things are very important to see this stability.”
But stability can only take you so far.
Ultimately it comes down to getting results.
And when it comes to the draft, acquiring players that can tangibly make the Celtics better, whether it’s now or in the near future, is what matters most.
Whether the Celtics can do that remains uncertain.
But one thing is clear: ownership is “all in” when it comes to the belief that Ainge and Stevens can steer this franchise through what’s sure to be one of the more complicated drafts ever.
“We have the right guys on the job,” said Pagliuca, referring to Ainge and Stevens.
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