Celtics president has potentially bad news for would-be draft picks

The Boston Celtics have two picks in the upcoming NBA Draft.
President of basketball operations Brad Stevens told reporters on Tuesday that whoever the team ends up selecting on Wednesday and Thursday may not end up seeing much playing time during the 2024-25 season.

Stevens added that the team is currently planning on using both of its picks (No. 30 and No. 54) to make selections.

The words aren't particularly surprising, especially given the fact that the Celtics are the NBA champions. Not only did they have one of the best and deepest rosters during the 2023-24 campaign, but Stevens and company expect the entire starting lineup (plus sixth man Al Horford) to be back in the fall.

Barring injury or a massive surprise, Boston's backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, plus superstar forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, will all return as starters. It was announced on Tuesday that center Kristaps Porzingis will be undergoing surgery "in the coming days" to address his torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon he suffered during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Latvian missed Games 3 and 4 of the series against the Dallas Mavericks but returned for Game 5. If Porzingis isn't ready for the start of the season, Horford, who was a career-long starter prior to this season, could easily step into the first five.

Beyond those six, who were the six most experienced players on the roster, Boston had 28-year-old center Luke Kornet, buzzer-beater master Payton Pritchard and sharpshooting small forward Sam Hauser earning the bulk of its bench minutes.

Notably, the Celtics' two rookies (Jordan Walsh and Drew Peterson) played just nine and three regular-season games, respectively, for the top team in the NBA. Walsh appeared in just three playoff contests, while Peterson didn't see the court in the postseason.

The last Boston rookie to have a significant role was Pritchard, who played in a team-high 66 games during his debut 2020-21 campaign, averaging 7.7 points and 19.2 minutes.