2019 NBA Draft: Top 3 players for Boston Celtics to select with 20th pick

With four picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics have plenty of choices to make. Here are three players they could possibly target with their second selection, the 20th pick.

Possessing a massive allotment of draft capital — four total selections, specifically numbers 14, 20, 22, and 51 — comes with its pros and cons, as it’s a rather burdensome position for one franchise to be in during the NBA offseason. Front offices and team personnel are tasked with scouring the globe for teenagers and young men who could one day, if not soon, contribute in a meaningful way at the highest level of the sport, and with it comes decisions on who is worthy of a selection and how the team should be constructed.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s a pretty good burden to deal with.

What makes Boston’s predicament so dubious and troublesome is the uncertainty clouding the roster heading into the offseason. A roster full of underachievers that managed to only win 49 games and bow out in five games in the Conference Semifinals is set to change drastically, whether by the intentions of the front office or by the intentions of the players heading into free agency.

Enigmatic star point guard Kyrie Irving and his bluntly-spoken backup, Terry Rozier, are both heading into free agency this summer, with several members of the media and rival front offices believing that both guards could be walking in a matter of weeks, which could give the Celtics the task of finding a new lead guard via the 2019 NBA Draft. Veteran big man Al Horford has a hefty player option that he could turn down if he so chooses and thus enter free agency, but it’s widely expected that he’ll either opt-in or re-sign to a longer, cheaper deal to remain with the franchise for the next few years.

Granted, surprises take place regularly in the NBA, so his potential departure should be considered and planned for accordingly. Other valuable role players, such as spot-starters Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes, can both enter free agency this summer. Baynes is likely to pick up his player option, but Morris’s future in Boston is in doubt based on the past season’s tumultuous nature.

Additionally, the Celtics are firmly in the mix for Anthony Davis’s services, so there’s uncertainty whether these four draft picks would be used as actual additions to Boston’s roster or an addition to their collection of assets that could be tossed into a blockbuster trade for the Pelicans star.

Because of this, Danny Ainge and Mike Zarren will have to be awfully careful and calculated on draft night (if no trade has occurred yet), selecting prospects that could potentially serve them well as roster pieces while also possessing league-wide value as trade chips.

The second of their four selections, the 20th pick’s journey to Boston was one worthy of legend. In 2015, the Celtics shipped out journeyman forward Jeff Green to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for a first round pick and other throw-ins of little importance. Just months later, Green was shipped over to the Los Angeles Clippers for one of their lottery-protected future first round picks. And, on the night of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Grizzlies traded that LAC pick to the Celtics in exchange for the 31st and 35th picks of that year’s draft, essentially allowing Boston to double-up on their return for Jeff Green.

With the Clippers finishing eight in the Western Conference with a respectable 48-34 record, their pick landed outside of the lottery and thus finally conveyed to Boston, ending the legendary Jeff Green love triangle.

Although drafting in the latter portion of the first round isn’t an ideal situation for most franchises, the Celtics benefit from holding two other slots in the first round and can therefore take more risks than usual — or, rather, they can simply increase their odds of landing young prospects who can contribute to winning basketball. Grabbing role players here is ideal, and safety is preferable. No prospect is necessarily a surefire bet to be “safe,” but there are prospects with skill sets and roles that are far more projectable than other players who have glaring weaknesses or deficiencies.

Here’s a look at three possible options for the Boston Celtics with the 20th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.