If the season ended today, Celtics would own an 11.9 percent chance at the top pick. They sit in fourth place in the lottery standings. Celtics will probably not win the No. 1 pick, but No. 2 and No. 3 are feasible, meaning the Celtics are in decent shape.
Early in the season we heard that Danny Ainge likes Duke's Jabari Parker. Parker is projected by many to be the top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
However ESPN's Chad Ford believes the Celtics have Andrew Wiggins at the top of their draft board. The 6-8 freshman from Kansas has recently declared for the draft, and according to Ford, Wiggins has passed Parker and center phenom Joel Emiid on Ainge's draft board.
"The Celtics are going out in true tanking fashion, having lost their last eight games. They could catch the Magic for that No. 3 spot, and I think that's where GM Danny Ainge is hoping his team can land. We had Jabari Parker at No. 1 for the Celtics for most of the season with Embiid No. 2, but it's time to revise it (unless Embiid's back injury turns out to be nothing). We now have the Celtics with Wiggins at No. 1, Parker No. 2 and Embiid No. 3) [ESPN]Celtics aren't completely out of the race for third place in the lottery standings but catching Orlando won't be easy. The Magic have a tougher remaining schedule than the Celtics (Brooklyn twice, Indiana, Chicago and Washington) and will probably hold onto that third spot in the lottery standings.
All of this could just be speculation, of course. Ainge may have his eyes set on Wiggins now and then change his mind the day before, morning of or even hours before his pick. Or he could be on the phone landing a deal for an all-star, asking them who they want its new rookie phenom to be. Who knows?
The only thing that's certain is that there will be more reports like Ford's in the next couple of months. But if the Celtics do land a top 3 pick, think about how attractive it will look to other teams.
Josue Pavon
No comments:
Post a Comment