Boston Celtics: Redrafting the last decade of first round picks
Original pick: Kelly Olynyk
New pick: Giannis Antetokounmpo
This is by far, the most obvious reselection. Danny Ainge was in the process of moving his aging stars and rebuilding behind a new core of players. At the center, the Celtics need a player that could lead the team. And mid-way through the draft, after a 41-win season, that is particularly hard to find.
The Celtics, with a draft-day trade, got Kelly Olynyk. But the odd thing was that no one thought Olynyk was ever going to be anything other than a high-quality role player. He lacked scoring abilities to be successful on that end and was not a strong rebound. His two strengths were his intelligence and unselfish team play attitude. So he would have been a great role player, but that was not what Boston needed.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s main attraction was his potential. With a number of veterans on the team, Boston seemed like to perfect place for him to develop. Giannis had the size, IQ, ball-handling skills, and work ethic for the NBA. But lacked shooting and defense speed, to make him an impactful player right away.
Although it took a long time, Antetokounmpo, as you know, turned into a perennial MVP candidate. While, like expected, Olynyk filled his role with Boston as a role player for several years, until he went to Miami.
If the Celtics were able to see the potential in the greek freak before Milwaukee, who knows how history would have played out. But chances are, Antetokounmpo would have still found himself as the star, just in a different city.
What if I told you that Boston took the wrong future Celtics in 2012?