The 2020 NBA Draft is in the books, which means it's time to evaluate how Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics fared.
The Celtics were had been expected to package their first-round picks (nos. 14, 26, and 30) either to move up in the draft or send in a trade for a key rotation piece. Instead, they held on to the 14th and 26th picks and traded away pick No. 30 to the Memphis Grizzlies for a future pick.
Vanderbilt forward Aaron Nesmith was drafted with pick No. 14. The 21-year-old is considered the best outside shooter in this draft class, shooting 51.2 percent from beyond the arc during his sophomore season and averaging 23 points in 14 games last year.
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Payton Pritchard, a 6-foot-2 point guard out of Oregon, was selected at No. 26. Like Nesmith, Pritchard has outstanding range and fills a glaring Celtics need for a 3-point shooter and bench scorer.
So did the Celtics ace the draft, or did they fail to make a move to help them remain a contender in 2021? Chris Forsberg was joined by NBC Sports Boston's Draft guru Robert Snyder on a new Celtics Talk Podcast to discuss.
Celtics Talk Podcast: Should Celtics fans be mad about the draft? Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens talk about the night | Listen & subscribe | Watch on YouTube
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"Nesmith was a guy that we talked about from Day 1 that would be a perfect fit because he nails the 3," Snyder said. "People talk about his sample size because he missed half the year last year, but he took eight 3s a game. It's not like he went 2-for-4 for 14 games. He went 4-for-8 for 14 games. He can really stroke it.
What to make of C's selecting Nesmith with 14th pick
"Payton Pritchard is a guy that we actually didn't spend a lot of time on over the last couple of weeks, but his range is really stupid. I mean, he's a hard worker, he's flashy and his range is out of control. He can shoot the ball from almost half-court, his confidence level is through the roof. He's not a guy who's going to shy away from the shot. So I think they actually did a really good job.
"The only thing I would've liked to see -- I know this is crazy because we talked about how they can't use all 3 picks -- Desmond Bane ended up being the 30th pick. It would've actually been nice to take him and obviously, you had other roster decisions to make, but overall for sitting pretty where they were, I actually am pretty happy with what they ended up with."
Lillard congratulates Pritchard after C's draft Oregon star
Also discussed in the new episode: What happens now with Gordon Hayward? What do you want the Celtics to do in free agency? Danny Ainge discusses the Celtics’ decisions on Draft night and expectations entering free agency. Brad Stevens on the Draft and preparing for the start of training camp. And are the C's still an NBA title contender?
Check out the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast on your favorite podcast app or watch it on YouTube below.