Re-Grading the Celtics' Last 5 Drafts Ahead of 2024 Event

2020 - Aaron Nesmith (14), Payton Pritchard (26), Desmond Bane (30), Yam Madar (47)

The last time the Celtics made more than one pick was in 2020, when they had three first-rounders and a second rounder that Charlotte threw in in the Kemba Walker deal.

The expectation was that Boston had acquired a key piece of their future plans at #14 when they selected Aaron Nesmith but the wing from Vanderbilt failed to carve out a role in the rotation. He averaged just 4.7 and 3.8 points in his two seasons in Boston and played less than five minutes a game in the Celtics’ 2022 run to the NBA Finals.

On July 9, 2022, Nesmith was traded to the Indiana Pacers as part of a multi-player deal for Malcolm Brogdon. The move was a boon for Nesmith, who became a starter for Indiana and signed a three-year, $33 million contract in October 2023.

Brogdon was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in his first season with the Celtics and then provided his greatest service to Celtics Nation when he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jrue Holiday.

Pritchard did find success and a fit with the Celtics and he remains the only player from the past six years of drafts to have played a significant role with the 2023-24 Celtics. Despite periods of unhappiness and swirling trade rumors, Pritchard stuck in the rotation and saw important minutes in the playoffs. He electrified the Garden crowd when he made a half-court three-pointer at the end of the second quarter of Game 5, his second straight Finals game connecting on a last second heave.

Bane never played for Boston, as he was traded to the Grizzlies on draft night. Madar, a highly touted talent out of Israel, never played in the NBA, outside of Boston’s 2021 NBA Summer League team. Madar stayed in Israel before playing in Serbia and Turkey.

Draft Grade: B+