The Boston Celtics were loaded with draft picks on Thursday night and desperately wanted to make some big moves, but they were unsuccessful. One move was trying to trade with the Charlotte Hornets for the No. 9, which the North Carolina team used to take Frank Kaminsky.
In an interview Friday with The Sports Hub in Boston, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said the team tried to use its draft picks to move up for a higher pick. He says they may have gotten caught up in the moment and it could be best for the team that they got stonewalled by other franchises.
“(The future picks) are worth a lot, (but) I think the draft is probably the time where they’re least valuable, simply because people get so caught up in players,” Ainge said in the interview. “Without mentioning names, there are some players that were drafted at certain spots (by teams) that turned down lots of draft picks that I just don’t think was smart on their part.”
MassLive’s Jay King reports that the player Boston wanted was Justise Winslow, who went to the Miami Heat at No. 10. The C’s reportedly made a big offer to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 9 to slide in to take Winslow, but the Hornets stood pat because they wanted Kaminsky.
According to a source inside the Celtics front office, the team targeted Justise Winslow as high as No. 4, and tried to grab him again when he was still available at No. 9. But a major offer loaded with draft picks – Ainge hinted it might have included at least one of Brooklyn’s future unprotected first-rounders – wasn’t enough to get the Charlotte Hornets to pass on the opportunity to draft Frank Kaminsky.
Grantland NBA reporter Zach Lowe backed the report:
This is true. CHA turned down a major haul for No. 9, BOS was going full throttle for Winslow, per sources. https://t.co/RGFBTJw4un
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 26, 2015
The Hornets better hope Kaminsky turns out well because of what they passed up to take him. Another interesting note is that Boston liked the Duke players. Before the draft, a separate report said they really wanted Jahlil Okafor, too.
