Boston Celtics: 5 Potential Draft Options With No. 23 Pick

4. PF Ben Bentil, 6’8″ 229 lbs., Providence

I’m a big fan of Ben Bentil’s game for the Celtics. Over the course of the last few years, it has been clear that Brad Stevens has been looking for a true stretch-4 and Bentil can finally fill the void that Stevens has longed for in his offense since he came to the Celtics.

The Celtics tried to turn Jared Sullinger into a jump shooter, but he was clearly never comfortable or consistent enough to knock down the long jumper in crunch time. Bentil, who is a good physical comparison to Sullinger, could emerge as that piece that Sullinger never became.

Bentil has an improving all-around offensive game, as exhibited by the jump in field goal percentage from his freshman to sophomore season (Fr: 43.6%, So: 46.2%). Additionally, he went from averaging just 6.4 points per game as a freshman to 21.1 points per game as a sophomore.

Finally, what is perhaps the most promising, is the fact that he shot 78 percent from the free throw line as a sophomore, and pulled down an average of nearly eight rebounds per game.

The knocks on Bentil’s game by scouts have been his touch-and-go defense, which continues to be a work in progress.

Additionally, while his rebounding numbers have improved, he still sometimes struggles with his positioning on box-outs, which will be crucial at the next level since he will be a bit undersized as a power forward at 6’8″.

All in all however, this may be the safest pick out of the bunch at No. 23.

If Danny Ainge believes that the brilliant display of basketball that Bentil exhibited during his sophomore campaign at Providence was not a fluke, expect him to be in the mix of prospects to consider with Boston’s final pick of the first round.

Next: No. 3 The Bosnian Big