On the latest edition of NBA Trade Grades, the Boston Celtics have agreed to send the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The deal is not official yet, but it’s all but a formality at this point: Despite having plenty of reasons for keeping the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics are trading it to the Philadelphia 76ers.
ESPN‘s Marc Stein and Zach Lowe initially broke the news that the Celtics and Sixers were in serious talks over the top selection of this year’s draft, and Saturday evening, NBA insider David Aldridge reported the deal was all but final.
After finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference and suffering a five-game gentleman’s sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals, Boston’s window for contention is now.
However, thanks to that brilliant 2013 trade of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Celtics also had the rights to swap first round picks with the Brooklyn Nets, and that yielded the No. 1 overall selection.
Now, the Celtics will be wheeling and dealing that pick to the 76ers for Philly’s 2017 first-rounder (No. 3 overall) and either the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2018 first-rounder or the Sacramento Kings’ 2019 first-rounder that were both owed to the Sixers.
According to The Vertical‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, there will be protections on the Lakers pick, and if it doesn’t convey in 2018, then the Sixers will send the 2019 first round pick via Sacramento instead.
When the deal was made official, it was clarified that the 2019 first-rounder will be the more favorable between Philly’s pick and Sacramento’s pick, provided that pick is not No. 1 overall. If it is, the pick that will convey will be the less favorable of the two picks.
Sixers also issue statement on trade, w/full details. So props to Sixers, too. pic.twitter.com/z55bmK3y1v
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) June 19, 2017
Philadelphia 76ers beat writer Derek Bodner first reported details of the protections on the Lakers pick heading Boston’s way, which will only convey if it falls between No. 2 and No. 5 in next year’s draft.
Celtics will get Lakers pick if it falls between 2 and 5 in the 2018 draft, per league source. If not, the Celtics will get the Kings in '19
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) June 18, 2017
This is obviously a blockbuster trade in terms of future assets, especially since it features the league’s two heavy-hitters when it comes to stockpiling picks. The question is, who came out ahead in this exchange?
To make sense of a swap that’s all but official, here are some new NBA Trade Grades for both sides.