The Boston Celtics are the biggest winners of Marvin Bagley’s decision

When Marvin Bagley reclassified to 2017 and joined the Duke Blue Devils, he helped the Boston Celtics as much as his new team in Durham.

ESPN made its viewers suffer through old Little League World Series footage late on Monday night. No one was interested in the baseball, but they were anxiously awaiting the college decision of the nation’s best player.

Marvin Bagley III announced that he would make his decision on the 11 p.m. nightly SportsCenter, but that decision didn’t air until almost 11:30 p.m. After every second passed slower and slower, Bagley finally revealed his commitment for Duke.

But before he even pulled out a fresh, silky Blue Devils jersey, Bagley announced he was reclassifying to the class of 2017.

We previously wrote about what that would mean and it’s a huge deal. The 2018 NBA Draft class already had unbelievable potential at the top before Bagley’s decision. Now, it’s even better and that will send a ripple effect all across basketball. It means the 2018 high school class is weaker, Duke has become a national championship contender, and the value of lottery picks next June increased. No one likely benefits more from that final point than the Boston Celtics.

What do the Celtics have to gain?

Danny Ainge has been wheeling and dealing for years. Over that time, he’s put on his best Sam Hinkie impersonation by planning for the future and picking up assets. So far, those fruits have not yielded much. No future stars through the draft have fallen to Boston, making the trade with the Sixers bizarre. Regardless, the 2018 NBA Draft could fix all that.

For the Boston Celtics, this is the last year they hold leverage from the Brooklyn Nets trade. Brooklyn figures to be a bottom-10 team this year, which could land the Celtics in the top-five as they chase an NBA Finals appearance themselves. The Nets could land the Celtics in a position to take one of the high-upside picks next year like Michael Porter Jr. from Missouri or Luka Doncic of Real Madrid and Slovenia.

But it’s not just down to the Nets’ pick. In their trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics will receive a pick from the Los Angeles Lakers if the pick falls between 2-5. That means the Celtics have multiple interests in teams doing poorly next year. It also means they could come away with two top-five picks next June, unrelated to their own record.

The Celtics could really use a young star

We’ll get you well acquainted with the top picks over the coming months, but this could change the future of the Celtics dramatically. They still lack a young star (sorry Jayson Tatum), but that can all change next June. Now, the Celtics have a bigger range to hit the jackpot.

Bagley’s decision means the lottery is one talent deeper, and there’s a legitimate conversation, for now, of five players in the mix for the No. 1 pick.

With the additions of Brook Lopez and Lonzo Ball, the Lakers won’t likely sit at the bottom of the NBA. There’s a great chance they fall into that 2-5 range. Should the Lakers win the lottery, however, the pick would go to the Sixers. The Celtics would then get Sacramento’s 2019 unprotected first round pick. Regardless, Celtics fans should be delighted with Bagley and he could even end up a Celtic from the Lakers or Nets pick.

Next: Top 5 free agency destinations for LeBron James in 2018

No one has more to gain than the Celtics and this could be the year they capitalize on Ainge’s trades and get a young star. They can thank Marvin Bagley partially for that.