No. 1 overall pick in 2017 NBA Draft: Boston Celtics (via BKN)
By all accounts, the Celtics are a good basketball team. They finished atop the East with a record of 53-29, which was the fourth-best in basketball. Thanks to a well-orchestrated trade, they’ve got ownership of the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
While the Celtics are indeed a good basketball team, they’re not quite a great basketball team. This effect was on full display during the first round during Games 1 and 2 against the Bulls. It will be on display again throughout their series against Cleveland.
How’s that going? They lost in an ugly 117-104 game at home last night.
The East belongs to Cleveland and will unless someone decides to throw in their chips and go for broke. Only Celtics are in a position to make that move.
Dating back to the trade deadline, the Celitcs were linked to both Indiana SF Paul George and Chicago SG/SF Jimmy Butler. Clearly, neither trade metabolized. Now, they own a huge token with the top pick in the NBA Draft. The top pick will be PG Markelle Fultz.
The Celtics would be better with Markelle Fultz in three years.
The Celtics would be better with Jimmy Butler next year.
For the Bulls, their window isn’t now; it’s going to take more elbow grease. The Celtics can win now with Butler. If the Celtics love Fultz, which Celtics’ superfan and NBA confidant Bill Simmons alluded to on his podcast, The Bill Simmons Show, it’s going to take more than Butler to get the pick. Perhaps not a huge haul, but something in return.
This piece may be a conditional first or second, even potentially an active talent. Bottom line, it’s going to take some elbow grease.
Next: Jimmy Butler to the All-NBA Third Team
What a package might look like: 2017 first round pick (#1), 2019 first round pick (swap best) and SF Jae Crowder to CHI, SG/SF Jimmy Butler, 2019 first round pick (swap worst) to BOS
Who the Bulls would take: PG Markelle Fultz