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With the NBA season approaching its end, NBA Draft season is here. Draft hopefuls will start to trickle into Boston to essentially audition for the Celtics with the goal of securing a draft position on June 21st. Here’s the list of players working out today:
Interesting list of draft workouts for the Boston Celtics today:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 8, 2018
Deng Adel - Louisville
Grayson Allen - Duke
Jeffrey Carroll - Oklahoma State
Billy Preston - Kansas/Ikogea (Bosnia)
Allonzo Trier - Arizona
Kenrich Williams - TCU
Bunch 6'6''-6'9'' wing types and a couple of guards.
The biggest name on that list is Grayson Allen, the 6’5” senior guard out of Duke University. Allen received a lot of publicity for his extra-curricular on-court activities over the last four years at Duke, but he’s also a talented shooter and playmaker who won a National Championship in 2015.
The Celtics own just the 27th pick in this June’s draft, though they’re always in the market for more. There were rumors that Danny Ainge could move up this summer to pick Texas’ Mo Bamba and Celtics brass did interview lottery talents Michael Porter Jr., Jaren Jackson, Wendell Carter, Trae Young, and Collin Sexton.
Austin Ainge in any character concerns surrounding Duke’s Grayson Allen: “Nick Pagliuca (Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca’s son who also played basketball at Duke) gave us the thumbs up on Grayson, so that’s all I needed. We’re good on him.”
— Nicole Yang (@nicolecyang) June 8, 2018
Among today’s group, Grayson Allen is the only one who’s been projected to go in the first round. Some players, like Allonzo Trier, have been projected to sneak into the second round. Boston has reportedly narrowed down their field to around 10 players with the #27 pick. As the NBA Draft approaches, expect the Celtics to continue to do their due diligence throughout the draft process.