Boston Celtics: Ranking Team’s Most Valuable Trade Assets

5.) Assorted Draft Picks

The Celtics are a team that is knee deep in a pool of future draft picks, the product of Ainge’s calculated rebuilding strategy.

Boston is owed a whopping fourteen draft selections between now and 2020, on top of the picks that the team already owns. Over the past couple of seasons, the Cs have facilitated numerous trades, dumped veterans for second-rounders, and taken on loads of unwanted salary, but the countless picks they have acquired puts them in great position for a mega-deal.

Per Boston.com, the Celtics have the following picks at their disposal:

2016: 3 first-round picks; 5 second-round picks
2017: 1 first-round pick; 4 second-round picks
2018: 2 first-round picks; 1 second-round pick
2019: 2 first-round picks; 2 second-round picks
2020: 1 first-round pick; 2 second-round picks

There is, of course, a second edge to this sword. Draft picks are valuable assets because they don’t contribute to a team’s committed salary (until they are turned into players, obviously), but playoff teams — the ones with the stars that Ainge is pursuing — are often hesitant to dump proven players for just picks, because the picks provide no immediate value, and are a gamble by nature.

So for that reason, don’t expect a win-now club like the Cleveland Cavaliers to ship out Kevin Love for picks and a couple of role players. They need someone who will contribute to their winning efforts in 2016.

Ironically, one other notable issue with Boston’s draft picks is their abundance. The Celtics, who own eight picks in this year’s draft alone, simply cannot make use of all of them. The team doesn’t have enough roster spots to do so. Other teams surely recognize this, which unfortunately devalues each individual pick — to an extent.

At the very least, it takes leverage out of the equation for Boston.

Next: Three And D From A.B.