The Celtics still have several future draft picks

For years now, we’ve talked about the Nets picks like they were prized works of art. They represented an investment and they were fun to look at. Of course, now they are all gone. They have been cashed in and converted to either tangible talent or future draft considerations. To recap, they turned into the following:

• James Young
• Jaylen Brown
• Traded for Jayson Tatum and future pick
• Traded in package for Kyrie Irving

That’s a great haul and we’ll remember the Nets picks fondly, but the war-chest is far from empty. Let’s take a quick look at some of the remaining picks that Danny Ainge and the Celtics have the option of using on future talented youngsters or trading for additional talent. (via RealGM)

2018 1st round pick from the Lakers (protected)

This one is very complicated due to the protection, but here’s what you need to know. If it falls between 2 and 5, the Celtics get the pick in 2018. If not, then the Celtics have to wait till 2019. Then they get the more favorable pick between the Sixers and Kings provided it isn’t the top overall pick (in which case, they’d get the lower of the two).

Outlook: The Lakers could very well be one of the 5 worst teams this year, so a shot at one of the top 5 players in next year’s draft is pretty decent. Otherwise, chances are pretty decent that either the Sixers or Kings (or both) will be bad in 2018-19.

2019 1st round pick from Clippers (protected)

This one is top 14 protected for both 2019 and 2020. Based on the fact that the Clippers re-signed Blake Griffin and still seem to be committed to contending for the foreseeable future, I don’t think this pick is going to be in the lottery. Which ends up being good news for the Celtics since the pick will likely convey in 2019.

Outlook: Without Chris Paul, it is hard to see them finishing with a better record than they have in recent history. However, they didn’t blow things up this summer, so I could see this pick being anywhere from 18 to the mid 20’s in 2019.

2019 1st round pick from Grizzlies (protected)

This one is top 8 protected in 2019 and top 6 protected in 2020 and unprotected in 2021.

Outlook: This could be one to keep an eye on over the next few years. The Grizzlies core is aging and seems to face injury concerns each year. It is anyone’s guess how long the core of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley will keep this team afloat. It is possible that by 2019 this pick will fall into the top 8 and thus be carried over to the next year and perhaps again to 2020. An unprotected pick from Memphis in 2020 could be very interesting.

There’s a lot of time between now and that happening, but it isn’t out of the question that this could be a high lottery pick in 3 years time.

Celtics own 1st rounders

It is important to remember that the Celtics do not owe their own first rounders to anyone at the moment. So while we all hope that they will be late in the 20’s for the foreseeable future, they at least have the right to either keep or trade them as they see fit.