Boston Celtics: 5 Best/Worst Draft Picks In Team History
A single NBA draft pick can completely change the destiny of a team. Just one pick can lead to a legendary dynasty, while if you get it wrong it can set back a team by generations. The Boston Celtics are the most successful team in league history, so more often than not they have managed to find success in the draft, but even they are not immune to the perils of the dreaded busts that haunt general managers for years afterwards. Let’s take a look at the five best and the five worst Boston Celtics draft picks in team history.
The Best:
5. Jo Jo White – 9th overall pick, 1969
Selected ninth overall in the 1969 draft, Jo Jo White went on to play nine outstanding seasons for the Boston Celtics, where he was a member of two championship teams in 1974 and 1976. White was selected to seven straight NBA All-Star games from 1970 through 1977 and was a notable playoff performer. The 1969 draft produced one of the greatest players in league history in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was selected first overall, but no player selected between Abdul-Jabbar and White went on to make a single All-Star Game.
4. Sam Jones – 8th overall pick, 1957
A Celtics legend, Sam Jones spent his entire 12-year career in Boston after being selected eighth in the 1957 draft. Incredibly, in 10 of Jones’ 12 seasons he was an NBA champion, which gives him the second-most championship rings in league history, second only to long-time teammate Bill Russell. Jones is the sole player from his draft class to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and was selected as an NBA All-Star on five occasions. One of the games greatest-ever winners and the pick of the crop from his draft class.
3. Paul Pierce – 10th overall pick, 1998
In the 1998 NBA draft the Celtics found a steal with the 10th overall pick that would turn into one of the franchises greatest players. Paul Pierce has spent his entire 15-year NBA career with the Boston Celtics and helped lead the team out of its longest-ever championship drought in 2008. A 10-time All-Star with numerous All-NBA selections, Pierce stuck around in Boston as the team endured one of the roughest stretches in franchise history. He has become the team’s captain and is entrenched across the statistical leader boards of the great franchise.
2. John Havlicek – 7th overall pick, 1962
One of the most iconic players in NBA history, John Havlicek played a total of 16 seasons in the NBA, all of which he spent with the Boston Celtics. With eight championship rings and 13 All-Star selections, Havlicek is one of the most decorated players in the history of the game. Throughout his outstanding career, Havlicek maintained career averages of 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists. A Hall of Famer and voted as one of the top 50 players in NBA history, the Celtics picked up a true icon in the 1962 draft.
1. Larry Bird – 6th overall pick, 1978
Larry Bird is truly one of the NBA’s greatest-ever players and would be a certainty as a top 10 player of all-time. In the 1978 draft, five teams had the opportunity to draft before the Boston Celtics, yet it was the Celtics that took the Indiana State junior, who had become legendary for his outstanding NCAA career. Bird spent his entire 13-year career with the Celtics and was named an All-Star in all but one of them. He is a three-time NBA champion who, along with Lakers legend Magic Johnson, captured the imagination of the world and put the NBA on the global map. A true pioneer, icon and legend of basketball, Larry Bird is the greatest draft selection the Boston Celtics have ever made.
Paul Pierce is one of the greatest Celtics of all-time.
Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
The Worst:
We wont quite get into detail as much here, as the careers are as forgettable as the draft picks that brought them to Boston.
5. Kedrick Brown – 11th overall pick, 2001
The selection of Kedrick Brown, who would go on to play a total of five seasons and just 143 games, could not have come at a worse time for the Celtics who were enduring the toughest stretch in franchise history. While the 2001 draft was a weak one in hindsight there were still five All-Stars and numerous long-time contributors taken after the Celtics took Brown.
4. Michael Smith – 13th overall pick, 1989
Michael Smith, selected 13th overall in 1989 would go on to play a total of three seasons in the NBA. Selected behind Smith in that draft were the likes of Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp and a total of six players who would go on to become NBA All-Stars.
3. Norm Cook – 16th overall pick, 1976
Norm Cook lasted a total of two seasons and 27 games in his NBA career after being selected by the Celtics 16th overall in 1976. Behind Cook in the 1976 draft were three All-Stars and a number of valuable role players.
2. Clarence Glover – 10th overall pick, 1978
After being selected by the Boston Celtics with the tenth overall pick in 1978, Clarence Glover went on to play a total of 25 games in the NBA before we never heard from him again.
1. Troy Bell – 16th overall pick, 2003
The Celtics were desperate to turn around their fortunes in the early 2000s and with the 16th selection took point guard Troy Bell. Bell played a total of six games in the NBA and, even worse for the Celtics, there are more than a dozen players taken later then Bell that are still producing in the league. Another selection that further delayed the return of the Celtics franchise to its former glory.