With the championship parade in the rear view mirror, the Boston Celtics have begun to look ahead to the 2024-25 season and the start of their campaign to repeat as NBA champions. That journey kicked off on Wednesday night at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, as the Celtics used the 30th and final pick in the first round of the NBA Draft to select Creighton forward Baylor Scheierman.
A 6-foot-7, 205 pound forward, Scheierman played five years in college basketball, starting his amateur career with South Dakota State for three seasons before transferring to Creighton for his final two. In his final season with the Bluejays, Scheierman averaged 18.5 points on 45% shooting from the field, connecting on 38% of his three-point attempts on over eight attempts per game. He’s one of the oldest prospects in this year’s draft, turning 24 in September.
The Celtics don’t exactly present a lot of opportunity for young players at the present moment. Stevens has been candid about an anticipated lack of major changes for the team this offseason. The Celtics will be running it back with their entire primary rotation from the championship season — and that’s a difficult environment for a rookie to contribute.
“We’ve got a lot of guys back,” said Stevens in a press conference this week. “It will be hard for any draft pick to crack our rotation when healthy.”
It’s not huge news, but Brad Stevens signaled that no one drafted this week is likely to get minutes next year:
“It will be hard for any draft pick to crack our rotation when healthy.” pic.twitter.com/CwQ8iZ5Smt
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzellNBA) June 25, 2024
Still, with the new restrictions placed upon teams above the second tax apron under the new collective bargain agreement (as the Celtics will be), identifying and developing affordable young talent in the NBA Draft is going to prove more important than ever. Scheierman is an experienced player with a tangible skill — three-point shooting — and represents a reasonable swing for the Celtics at the end of the first round.
Under the NBA’s new two-day draft format, the Celtics will return to the board tomorrow night for their second-round selection. Barring a trade, they’re lined up to make pick #54 on Thursday evening.
