Does the Smart-for-Porzingis trade bring the Celtics closer to a championship?
After four draft night trades, the Boston Celtics made one selection in the 2023 NBA Draft, selecting Arkansas forward Jordan Walsh in the second round, 38th overall. Boston walks out of the 2023 draft with Walsh and four future second-round picks.
The Celtics entered the draft slated to pick 25th overall, a pick they acquired on Wednesday night from the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the three-team blockbuster deal between Boston, Washington and Memphis.
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Boston wound up trading the 25th pick to the Pistons in exchange for the 31st pick and two second-round picks. In trading back, it marked the third consecutive year the Celtics did not make a selection in the first round, with their last first-round selection coming in 2020 when they selected Payton Pritchard at 26.
After trading back six spots, the Celtics would then trade the 31st pick to Charlotte in exchange for 34th and 39th pick.
Brad Stevens was not done yet.
Boston would then flip number 34 to Sacramento in exchange for number 38 and a future second-round pick, leaving Boston with the 38th and 39th picks.
After selecting Walsh with the 38th pick, the Celtics made their final deal of the night, sending the 39th pick to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a future second-round pick.
In trading out of the first round, the Celtics created payroll flexibility and were able to get back some draft capital after trading five second-round picks since Stevens took over as president of basketball operations in June 2021.
Walsh, the lone selection of the 2023 draft for the Celtics, is a 6-foot-7 forward with a 7-foot-2 wingspan who is 19 years old. Walsh spent just one season with the Razorbacks and was a terrific defender, but his offensive game has a lot of questions, especially shooting.
In 36 games last season, Walsh averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, but shot just 27.8% from three.
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