What are the Celtics Doing in the NBA Draft?

If you don't know the Celtics traded down to #3 in the draft from #1. Everybody thought that Markelle Fultz was the future of the Boston Celtics. Now he is the future of the 76ers. Since Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball are everybody's consensus #1 and #2 picks, this leaves 3 people left that could be taken in the third spot. Deaaron Fox, Josh Jackson, and Jayson Tatum. We will go through the 3 players and discuss pros and cons and at the end decide who it is going to be a Celtic.

Deaaron Fox

The most explosive player in the draft the 6 ft 3 inch point guard is hard to pass on. He attacks the rim with speed and force and is a dogged defender. His jumpshot may struggle but Russell Westbrook doesn't have the best jumpshot and we saw him post a Triple-Double average the entire season. Deaaron might not be the best fit for the Celtics because they have Isaiah Thomas. The only reason I see the Celtics drafting Fox is if they don't want to pay a 5 ft 9 inch guy 100,000,000 when he is about out of his prime. But Isaiah Thomas has proved to people again and again that he is worth a lot of money.

Josh Jackson 

A dominant 6 ft 8 inch forward its very easy to see why the Celtics would take him. Being teammates with Frank Mason might help him prepare for what would happen if the Celtics did draft him because of Isaiah Thomas. Jackson can give 15 points and stellar defense while giving teammates confidence as well. The Celtics main problem last year was nobody could stop LeBron and defense was gone. Isaiah Thomas is a liability on defense because of his height. Al Horford won't make LeBron think twice about attacking the rim. Amir Johnson is an average defender on a good night. Avery Bradley cannot guard Kyrie and LeBron at the same time. He might not even be able to guard LeBron alone. Josh Jackson strengthens there defense and might even give them an edge.

 

Jayson Tatum

A 6 ft 8 inch forward able to dunk on a 11 foot rim and can dunk while wearing armor is pretty impressive. With similar measurements to Jackson, Tatum brings explosive offense they need so Isaiah Thomas doesn't have to score 30 for the Celtics to have a chance. Tatum also has played along stars at Duke that could prepare him for Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics. He also does not have to be the number one option, and has played along stars like Luke Kennard and Grayson Allen. 

Verdict

While everyone has tremendous upside, I think the Celtics will pick Josh Jackson with the #3 pick in the 2017 NBA draft.