Celtic Sunrise: Terry Rozier III and the 2015 NBA Draft

All the experts say that you can’t judge a draft until years after the fact. Then of course they immediately judge the draft as it is happening. I do the same, except I’m not an expert and don’t pretend to know the college game very well at all. I just read a lot of experts, watch a few clips, and do my best to fake it.

Which is how I came about not knowing a thing about Terry Rozier III in the 2015 draft. He was too far down the consensus draft boards for me to worry about researching. In fact, I was largely distracted by several rumors about Danny Ainge trading up into one of the top spots. We all remember the Justise Winslow rumors but there were a number of reports of Ainge’s interest in Jahlil Okafor as well.

So imagine my surprise when some guy I had never heard of was the Celtics selection at number 16. Actually, you don’t have to imagine it. Here’s my instant analysis from draft night.

I'm shocked.

Rozier is another point guard that isn't a great shooter. Now we wait and see what this means for Marcus Smart.

The Celtics passed on guys like Bobby Portis, RJ Hunter, and Kevon Looney.

My initial reaction is that I hate this pick. Rozier most likely would have been available lower in the draft - maybe even at the 28th pick. I don't understand why we have to double down on yet another point guard.

Maybe this means more moves are afoot. Maybe this means the Celtics aren't as high on Smart as they would like us to believe.

I don't really know what to think at this point. I'm disappointed that we didn't trade up and I'm not impressed with the pick.

Feel free to prove me wrong Terry Rozier. I'm just not seeing it right now.

Ironically, we ended up taking Hunter at 28 and he simply didn’t pan out. Thankfully, Terry Rozier III has proven me (and a lot of people) wrong.

He probably isn’t going to develop into a star but few picked that low in the draft ever are. He has turned himself into a solid contributing rotation player on a playoff team.

You can bet that Orlando would have loved to get similar development from Mario Hezonja (picked 5th). I know that if the Sixers offered up Okafor (3rd pick) for Rozier straight up, Ainge would have a good chuckle over his Chipotle meal.

There are some great picks in that draft (Towns, Porzingis, Turner, Booker) and some young guys that still have interesting potential (Russell, Cauley-Stein, Mudiay) but that draft was a good example of how oddly things can work out.

Sure, Ainge did well with this pick, but he passed on Richaun Holmes twice. Of course, he also famously wanted to bet the farm on Winslow.

Still, he knows this stuff a lot better than I ever will and he (and Terry) sure proved me wrong in my “instant analysis” from draft night. I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to develop and grow as a player.