2022 NBA Draft: List of Celtics picks, why they don’t have first-rounder originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The 2022 NBA Draft is fast approaching with the event scheduled for Thursday night, and the Boston Celtics are currently slotted to make at least one pick.
For the second consecutive year, the Celtics do not have a first-round pick.
They traded their 2021 selection to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Kemba Walker-Al Horford swap. In hindsight, that was a very good trade given Horford’s impact on the team’s success during the 2021-22 season.
NBA Power Rankings: Where Celtics stand ahead of Thursday’s draft
Boston lacks a first-rounder in 2022 because it dealt the selection to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the Derrick White trade. The Celtics acquired White in exchange for Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round pick and a top-1 protected first-round pick swap in 2028.
White proved to be a good fit for the Celtics as a versatile guard who provided strong perimeter defense and some scoring off the bench. His outside shooting was pretty inconsistent, though, especially in the NBA Finals when he struggled over the last couple games versus the Golden State Warriors.
Unless the Celtics struck gold with the No. 25 pick, White will make a much larger impact next season than any player taken with that selection.
The Celtics own one pick in the 2022 draft — the 53rd overall selection (second round). The Celtics chose international prospects Juhann Begarin in the 2021 second round and Yam Madar in the 2020 second round. Neither player has come over to the NBA yet.
It’s always possible the Celtics could trade back into the first round Thursday night, but that scenario seems unlikely. The last thing the Celtics need right now is another rookie who won’t play a ton of minutes.
The C’s already have several young guys on the roster who need more playing time, including Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith and even Grant Williams.
