2020 NBA Draft
Entering the 2020 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics held the rights to three first-round picks and two second-round picks. Many around the league believed the Celtics would be aggressive and try to move up to have two, high first-round picks, but Boston was very quiet on draft night and only made one trade.
The Boston Celtics traded Pick No. 30 in the NBA Draft, Desmond Bane, to the Grizzlies and then traded center Enes Kanter to the Portland Trail Blazers, in return for two second-round picks from Portland. The Celtics kept Picks No. 14 and No. 26 in the draft and drafted both Aaron Nesmith from Vanderbilt and Payton Pritchard from Oregon. The Celtics also drafted guard Yam Madar as a draft-and-stash prospect in the second round.
Both Nesmith and Pritchard were two big-time shooters for their teams in college and should continue to be solid offensive weapons for Boston. Aaron Nesmith has a breakout sophomore season where he averaged 23.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and shot 52.2% from three-point range.
The Celtics needed a perimeter shooter who could come off the bench and knock down shots, which is exactly what Nesmith can do. Look for Brad Stevens to draw up plays for the rookie early on in his career, running him off screens every chance he gets. This will be important to open up the floor for Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown throughout games.
Payton Pritchard was one of the best seniors in college basketball last year with Oregon and much like Carsen Edwards from last year, Pritchard should be a reliable bench player for Boston. Last season with Oregon, the 6’2” point guard averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists, and shot 41.5% from three-point range.
The Boston Celtics desperately needed to improve their bench depth with their abundance of draft picks in the 2020 NBA Draft and they did so by adding Nesmith and Pritchard. The bench scoring these two rookies have a chance to provide to the Celtics should not go overlooked and is something that could end up being the difference in Boston making a run in the playoffs because of how well both players space the floor and can knock down shots from anywhere on the court.
