Imagine if the Celtics won the lottery and had their choice of who to pick at number one. I don't have to tell you to do that because you have either already imagined it 300 times over already, or you are actively trying to avoid imagining it so as to not get your hopes up (I fall in the latter category).
Still, if you could be a fly on the wall in Danny Ainge's war room, wouldn't it be great to see the names written in dry erase marker? I wonder how many times he's erased and re-written the names on this mythical board.
Early in the season all we heard was how much Danny loved Jabari Parker, and with good reason. The kid is an offensive stud ready to come in and score at the NBA level right away. Then there were whispers that center phenom Joel Embiid was getting traction as well. Meanwhile, Wiggins was creeping back up people's big boards and now Ford has him number one for the Celtics as well.
NBA: Tank Rank -- Who are bottom teams eyeing in draft? - ESPN
The Celtics are going out in true tanking fashion, having lost their last eight games. They could catch the Magic for that No. 3 spot, and I think that’s where GM Danny Ainge is hoping his team can land. We’ve had Jabari Parker at No. 1 for the Celtics for most of the season with Embiid No. 2, but it’s time to revise it (unless Embiid’s back injury turns out to be nothing). We now have the Celtics with Wiggins at No. 1, Parker No. 2 and Embiid No. 3.
All of this could be complete fallacy of course. Ainge himself may have targeted his guy half a year ago and written it in ink. Or perhaps he changes his mind daily. Or maybe he's just waiting to see how the lottery works out before he settles in on his final big board. We have no idea and we likely won't until after the fact (if then).
There's also a chance, however remote, that Ainge will consider trading the pick even if it is in the top 3. If he really doesn't value the draft as much as other people do, he might like to use the pick to land a bigger, more experienced star player.
The only thing I know is that we'll be getting a lot more draft boards and oodles and oodles of mock drafts in the next 3 months. All we can do is wait and see how it pans out... and debate each of the players and their merits endlessly in the comments!
So, with the college season officially over, who would you pick number one if given the chance?