The aftermath of the Anthony Davis trade on Saturday will immediately impact the 2019 NBA Draft Thursday. With Davis headed to the Lakers, the Pelicans received three first-round picks, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart. Because of this, New Orleans now has the No. 4 pick in this week’s draft, in addition to the No. 1 pick the team won in the NBA Draft Lottery.
As for the trade’s impact on the Celtics: the six-time All Star will not be coming to Boston, which also eliminates what could have been a potential reason for Kyrie Irving to stick around. With that in mind, the Celtics have three first-round picks on Thursday: Nos. 14, 20, and 22.
Danny Ainge could try to package a few of them to move up in this year’s draft, or he could look to make a trade to add a star to the roster. But, here’s who the experts have the Celtics drafting at Nos. 14, 20, and 22 in our mock draft roundup.
Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo:
- No. 14: Goga Bitadze, C, Georgia
- No. 20: Kevin Porter Jr., SG, USC
- No. 22: Cameron Johnson, SF, North Carolina
Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler:
- No. 14: Bol Bol, C, Oregon
- No. 20: Matisse Thybulle, SG/SF, Washington
- No. 22: Mfiondu Kabengele, PF, Florida State
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander:
- No. 14: Tyler Herro, SG, Kentucky
- No. 20: Keldon Johnson, SG/SF, Kentucky
- No. 22: Goga Bitadze, C, Georgia
CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone:
- No. 14: Goga Bitadze, C, Georgia
- No. 20: Keldon Johnson, SG/SF, Kentucky
- No. 22: Mfiondu Kabengele, PF, Florida State
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley:
- No. 14: Brandon Clarke, PF/C, Gonzaga
- No. 20: Talen Horton-Tucker, SG/SF, Iowa State
- No. 22: Mfiondu Kabengele, PF, Florida State
Bleacher Report’s Jake Rill:
- No. 14: Bol Bol, C, Oregon
- No. 20: Talen Horton-Tucker, SF, Iowa State
- No. 22: Nassir Little, SF, North Carolina
The Athletic's Sam Vecenie:
- No. 14: Goga Bitadze, C, Budocnost (Montenegro)
- No. 20: Nic Claxton, SF, Georgia
- No. 22: Kevin Porter Jr., SF, USC
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor:
- No. 14: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, SG, Virginia Tech
- No. 20: Bol Bol, C, Oregon
- No. 22: Ty Jerome, G, Virginia
Sporting News’ Kyle Irving:
- No. 14: Tyler Herro, SG, Kentucky
- No. 20: Bol Bol, C, Oregon
- No. 22: Ty Jerome, G, Virginia
NBADraft.Net:
- No. 14: Tyler Herro, SG, Kentucky
- No. 20: Bol Bol, C, Oregon
- No. 22: Nicolas Claxton, PF, Georgia
The 2019 NBA Draft is Thursday, June 20 at 7 p.m. at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The NBA Draft will air live on ESPN and ESPN Radio and stream live on the ESPN App.
