Video: Breaking down the games of the draft's likely top 3 picks & why NOT trading the pick is a no brainer


These videos are a couple months old, but Coach Nick from BBALL Breakdown always does a great job on breaking down players' games, so still very appropriate now. They did videos on the Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Jackson, but I could also see Jayson Tatum jumping into the top 3. And with still about 6 weeks to go, you never know another guy could jump into the mix.

The best news for the Celtics is we don't have to worry about someone moving up to the top 3. The Celtics can pick the best of the best. The best player available right now is clearly Markelle Fultz. Unless some injury issues pop up that are unknown right now, he's definitely the guy Danny should pick. Ball can go to the Lakers.

What about trading the pick? Hmm would you rather have Paul George or Jimmy Butler for $30 mil a yr as they leave their primes and hit their 30's or Markelle Fultz for the next 17 years? Oh and Fultz will only cost $7 mil a year, so you can use the extra 20+ mil a year in cap space on another star. You also have other assets including the UNPROTECTED 2018 Nets picks to dangle for a George or Butler.

Additionally you have a bunch of players coming up for huge deals in the next couple years. Won;t be able to afford them all, so time to consolidate some of those soon to be big money free agents in a trade for a star. Keep the 18 year old on small money. No brainer in my honest opinion. Hopefully Danny Ainge thinks the same. Time for Ainge to draft his own Paul Pierce.

Imagine if the Celtics when they were lucky enough to have Paul Pierce drop to them, went ahead and traded him for let's say a Steve Smith who was more established at that time? Imagine if we trade a lesser prospect like Joe Johnson? Oh yeah we did. Short sighted and stung for years. Same with Billups and Kenny Anderson. Keep the pick. Draft Fultz. Then use the cap space on Gordon Hayward. If he re-signs with Utah, so be it. You can still use the cap space to bring in another star for other assets. Draft Fultz.