Celtics Draft Recap

Associated Press

With a stash of draft picks, the Celtics tried to move up in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft but by the end of the night the C's failed to land a deal.

Instead, Danny Ainge, Celtics president of basketball operations, drafted Louisville guard Terry Rozier at No. 16, Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter at No. 28, LSU forward Jordan Mickey at No. 33, and William & Mary guard Marcus Thornton at No. 45.

Leading up to the draft Ainge said he was going to try hard to move up in the draft and was confident that there was going to be some 'movement' with at least one of his four picks. On the day of the draft there was talk about an offer for Philadelphia's No. 3 pick that was going to be "impossible to refuse" if Los Angeles selected Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell. The Lakers drafted Russell at No. 2. And then Philadelphia drafted Jahlil Okafor at No. 3.

No Celtics deal, yet.

Hours before the draft there were reports implicating Jared Sullinger heading to Charlotte in exchange for the Hornets' No. 9 pick. So when the Hornets were on the clock, Celtics Nation held their breath, waiting for Commissioner Silver to walk to the podium and say the words they've been waiting to hear all night; 'There has been a trade.'

But, again, nothing.

No Celtics deal.

Instead, the Hornets drafted Wisconsin forward Frank Kominsky.

Kominsky. Kominsky?

Charlotte, if you're going to keep the pick at least draft Duke forward Justise Winslow (who the C's may have been eyeballing) or Texas forward Myles Turner. What a waste.

After the draft, Ainge wouldn't confirm nor deny the draft day rumors but did say that there was a lot of talk going on about deals that weren't true.

"The fans, they feed into what's being written and said a lot, too," Ainge said. "But I did say that we would try to move up. The price was way too high. There's so many rumors out there. There's so many things that are being said and written that are not even close to being true, that are just made up stories. No sources and fake sources. And people get caught up in these rumors and their expectations go even higher."

Well, when you say "I think there will be some movement" of course there's going to be high expectations, Danny. What did you expect? But if the asking price was too high then maybe it's a good thing that nothing happened. Ainge isn't going to be giving out all of the future Brooklyn Nets picks (unprotected) if he can use them in another deal for player who's more valuable.

Associated Press

When it was time for the Celtics to make their first pick of the night at No. 16, Ainge and Co. surprised a lot of people when Commissioner Silver announced Terry Rozier. Rozier, who was slated to be a late first round-early second round pick in most mock drafts, isn't the frontcourt guy who the Celtics need right now. On a roster stacked with guards, Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker or Arkansas forward Bobby Portis were both likelier choices.

But after two workouts with the Celtics, Rozier's speed and defense really impressed Ainge.

"He's really athletic and really tough. And I love those kind of guys. I think our team will love him, I think our fans will love him. I think he has a great upside as a two-way player. He'll live in the paint, he can get where he needs to get. He's got great speed, athleticism, length, and he's a terrific defender. I believe his shooting numbers will continue to improve as well. He has great form, great mechanics, and we had him in for a couple of workouts, and we really grew to like him."

The Celtics drafted another guard in the first round; Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter. Although the Celtics roster is very guard heavy, Hunter is a deep three-point shooter. The Celtics don't have a go-to three-point shooter, so Ainge's late first round pick does fill a void for his team.

However, Ainge knows he still has a lot of work to do this summer. The Celtics have yet to add to their slim frontcourt, and will look ahead to free agency.

"We'll finish our roster this summer and, obviously, there's holes in the [frontcourt] spots, and not so much in the guards right now," Ainge said. "Our roster isn't complete. If you've learned anything, that's one thing you should know: What you see today is not what you'll see tomorrow. We're a team that's building for a championship, and we'll continue to do that by trying to find the best players we can."

Josue Pavon 
Twitter: @Joe_Sway10