This week will officially mark the start of the NBA offseason, which may be a hectic summer for the Celtics.
Wednesday and Thursday will be the dates of the 2025 NBA Draft. While Round 2 will have its own day on Thursday, Round 1 will take place on Wednesday evening.
The Celtics will enter the draft with two picks, in contrast to the first few years of Brad Stevens’ tenure as president of basketball operations. With the 28th overall pick, they will select close to the conclusion of the first round. The Celtics have the 32nd overall pick because of the Wizards, even though they do not own their second-round pick.
Let’s examine who analysts believe the Celtics will choose with their first-round pick as draft week approaches.
ESPN
: UNC G/F Drake Powell
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo and Jonathan Givony think Powell can be an intriguing alternative for the Celtics, as they might enable him to develop into something more than this upcoming season, especially since Jayson Tatum is expected to miss at least a significant amount of the 2025–26 campaign.
“It would be a huge victory to find a wing like Powell who can absorb minutes, hopefully gain some experience, and maybe emerge as capable of adding value in a year,” Givony wrote. Powell’s ability to guard everyone from point guards to power forwards while flying around to protect the rim, crash the glass, and closing out on the perimeter with purpose is one of the NBA clubs’ favorite aspects of his game and long-term potential. The question is whether he is a skilled shooter or an aggressive enough scorer to compete on that end of the court. He plays incredibly hard and has amazing agility, covering ground and turning all over the floor.
At North Carolina, Powell, 19, was a one-and-done player. In his one season at Chapel Hill, the 6-foot-5 wing averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game, although his stats weren’t very impressive. However, as Givony noted, he was able to earn about 1.5 stocks (steals and blocks) each game thanks to his athleticism, which is remarkable given that he only played 25.5 minutes per game.
Powell also had little difficulty shooting. As a true freshman, he hit 37.9 percent of his 3-point tries and 48.3 percent of his field goal attempts. However, the sample size is small—he only took 5.7 shots each game.
According to ESPN, the Celtics will select Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner with their second-round pick. At Creighton, Kalkbrenner averaged at least 2.5 blocks per game in three of his four consecutive Big East Defensive Player of the Year titles.
Yahoo! Sports Kevin O Connor
: Arkansas F Adou Thiero
According to O’Connor, who likens Thiero to former Celtics star Jae Crowder, the Celtics are also taking a player who is comparatively raw.
According to O Connor, Thiero has considerable offensive limitations as a shooter while being a slasher with a jacked physique and an explosive first step. His length and versatility would make him a classic 3-and-D role player if he can figure out the shooting. Given that his other skills are suited to the Celtics’ system, he would be a reasonable pick given their track record of developing shooters.
Thiero followed head coach John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas, where he enjoyed a great junior season. The 6-6 forward displayed athleticism along the rim, averaging 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. Although he made 54.5 percent of his field goals, he only made 25.6 percent of his 3-point attempts, averaging 1.6 attempts per game. To O’Connor’s point, if the Celtics wish to turn Thiero into a plus 3-point shooter, they would have their hands full.
O’Connor predicts that the Celtics will select Penn State star Yanic Konan Niederhauser in the second round. After transferring to Penn State, the 6-10 Konan Niederhauser became one of the Big Ten’s top centers this past season, averaging 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per contest. He also had a 61.1 percent field goal percentage.
CBS Sports
: Israel G Ben Saraf
CBS Sports Saraf, who turned 19 in April, has a lot of promise as a late-first-round choice, according to David Cobb, but whomever selects him will need to have a lot of patience to see it through.
Saraf is the kind of cunning, on-ball player who may dominate the G League but finds it difficult to adjust to the physicality and athleticism of the NBA right away. However, Cobb said, “the upside is tremendous if a franchise is willing to grant him a generous runway.” He can grow into a three-level scorer with the facilitating skills to lead the team as a starter or playmaker off the bench because to his excellent size and game sense.
At first glance, Saraf’s stat line doesn’t appear particularly outstanding. In 16 games with Ulm in the EuroCup league, he shot 41.9 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from outside the arc, averaging 12.8 points and 4.6 assists per game. However, given that he only averaged 24.4 minutes per game during the previous season and faced more experienced players, his statline is somewhat more respectable. Since the Celtics may lose Jrue Holiday this offseason, he also averaged 1.3 steals per game, which they may utilize.
The Ringer
: Stanford big Maxime Raynaud
According to J. Kyle Mann of The Ringer, Raynaud would be a good choice for the Celtics to attempt and develop as their big man rotation for 2025–2026 appears doubtful.
According to Kyle Mann, the Celtics have recently had some success producing frontcourt guys like Raynaud, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, and Neemias Queta. Raynaud might be the next one. I would be concerned about him adjusting to the more physical NBA if he were a big guy who needed to learn how to play through opponents’ chests and make his presence known. However, Raynaud was quite active for Stanford this past season, both inside and outside the arc. Raynaud could contribute if Boston could create a shooting chart that cleverly combines his ability to pop out for a three-pointer and body a defender close to the rim.
In his senior year this past year, Raynaud, who stands just over seven feet tall, was a force on both ends of the court for Stanford. He earned a spot on the first team of the All-ACCC by averaging 20.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game.
Raynaud is also a fairly skilled shooter for a big man, as Kyle Mann hinted. With 5.5 attempts per game, he had a comparatively acceptable 3-point shooting percentage of 34.7 percent. Additionally, he made 77 percent of his free-throw attempts, indicating that his shooting ability may advance.
The Athletic s Sam Veceine
: Stanford big Maxime Raynaud
Veceine also believes that Raynaud’s dribbling, passing, and shooting skills are a good fit for the Celtics’ style of play, which is why they chose him.
Veceine stated that Raynaud’s poor mobility and potential for weakness in space will be crucial in defense. In front of a number of NBA scouts, he had an amazing combine game. However, some NBA executives who were present pointed out that he faced Croatian adolescent Michael Ruzic, who was the least developed player present.
If you watch Raynaud’s highlights, you will see that he moves comparatively more slowly than some of his opponents. Still, if any of Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet, or Al Horford leave Boston this offseason, he might be able to start for the Celtics straight immediately in 2025–2026. Porzingis has been a reported trade candidate, while Horford and Kornet are free agents.
Veceine predicts that the Celtics will select Marquette guard Kam Jones with their second-round pick. During the previous season, the 6-3 guard was among the top players in the country, averaging 19.2 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 31.1 percent from outside the arc and 48.3 percent from the field.
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