Following a disappointing first-round playoff exit, the Boston Celtics now shift their consideration towards a pivotal offseason and the upcoming NBA Draft, the place they at present maintain the twenty seventh and fortieth general choices. Choosing close to the again finish of the primary spherical, and within the early portion of the second, is acquainted territory for the Celtics entrance workplace.
Since 2023, the Boston Celtics have chosen Baylor Scheierman at No. 30 and Hugo Gonzalez at No. 28 within the first spherical, whereas additionally utilizing second-round capital on Jordan Walsh at No. 35, Anton Watson at No. 54, and final yr’s thirty second general decide, which they in the end traded in a deal that introduced in Amari Williams and Max Shulga.
In accordance with Hoopshype’s annual draft exercise tracker, Boston has already begun the preliminary section of its pre-draft evaluations for this draft cycle. Listed here are the prospects the Celtics have introduced in to this point:
Whether or not Brad Stevens, Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations, decides to package deal one or each choices in a commerce for established expertise or maneuver across the draft board, the group of prospects Boston has begun evaluating makes for an intriguing start line within the group’s pre-draft course of. So, let’s dive in.
Zuby Ejiofor | 6’7.5” | F/C | St.John’s | 22
16.3 pts | 7.3 rebs | 3.5 asts | 1.2 stls | 2.1 blks | 53.6/30.5/71.8 | 60.9 TS%
Zuby Ejiofor is without doubt one of the extra fascinating late first-round to early second-round prospects on this yr’s draft class due to how translatable his function seems to be on the NBA degree. The previous Kansas Jayhawks males’s basketball switch blossomed into the centerpiece of St. John’s Purple Storm males’s basketball beneath Rick Pitino, creating from a high-energy rotational huge into one of the vital impactful two-way forwards in school basketball.
Ejiofor did measure in shorter than his beforehand listed 6’9” top at this yr’s NBA Mix, however his management, motor, and non-negotiable perspective to the defensive aspect of the ball will nonetheless seemingly get him drafted fairly comfortably.
Defensively, is the place his cash is made. Ejiofor might be a flexible switch-capable huge who can defend a number of frontcourt positions, shield the rim in weak-side rotations, and survive on the perimeter higher than most gamers his measurement and weight. His mixture of elite power and good size (7’2” wingspan) permits him to carry floor in opposition to larger facilities regardless of missing towering top. With out elite athletic skill, he depends on verticality and positioning. Scouts constantly level to his defensive instincts, motor, and physicality as NBA-level traits.
Ejiofor can create occasions on the defensive aspect as proven by his 7.2 block proportion (eightieth percentile) and a pair of.2 steal proportion which ranked within the 83rd percentile positionally, however his intangibles together with all of the traits I listed above make him a lot extra impactful wanting exterior the field rating. This made him a sophisticated analytics darling final yr as he ranked third within the nation in BPM (Field Plus Minus) and eleventh in DBPM (Defensive Field Plus Minus). These stats shouldn’t be taken as finish all be all projections as they don’t seem to be good.
Offensively, his recreation remains to be evolving, however there are intriguing indicators of contemporary utility. He performs with a relentless motor and thrives doing the form of connective, profitable performs NBA groups worth from role-playing frontcourt items like being a very good screener, a robust finisher across the rim, offensive rebounding and an more and more efficient passer in dribble-handoff actions and short-roll conditions. One of many extra notable developments in his recreation this previous season was his enchancment as a facilitator, showcasing higher courtroom imaginative and prescient and decision-making from the excessive put up. His 3.7 assists per recreation and 23 help proportion each ranked within the 97th percentile.
His bruiser/bully mentality on offense did result in him attending to the road a ton in school. His 69.4% free throw fee (seven makes an attempt per recreation) ranked within the ninety fifth percentile. He transformed 71% of his makes an attempt on the stripe which is stable for a man his measurement but when he can get higher from there, that may be nice. This ties into the swing ability for him which is his perimeter taking pictures.
I imagine Zuby Ejiofor has the potential to develop right into a Swiss Military knife, high-IQ frontcourt participant who doesn’t essentially should be an incredible shooter to affect profitable, although added perimeter vary will surely elevate his worth. He shot simply 30% from three-point vary final season on 59 makes an attempt and has but to show constant sufficient contact from past the arc to command defensive consideration on the collegiate degree. That mentioned, he has proven sufficient makes to counsel there may be at the least some developmental upside, and his taking pictures mechanics usually are not damaged, leaving room for gradual enchancment over time.
If the whole lot goes as deliberate for Zuby Ejiofor, I see a substantial quantity of Isaiah Stewart likeness in his recreation (most likely minus the fights).
Andrej Stojakovic | 6’5.5” | Wing | Illinois | 21
13.5 pts | 4.5 rebs | 1.0 asts | 50/24/80 | 57.8 TS%
Simply because gamers share a final identify doesn’t essentially imply they’re associated, however once you see “Stojakovic” on the again of a basketball jersey, it naturally invitations hypothesis a couple of doable household connection. On this case, nevertheless, the belief is right: Andrej Stojakovic is the son of former NBA All-Star and champion Peja Stojakovic.
Andrej transferred to Illinois final season after spending his first two years with Stanford and California. On offense, he’s most likely the other of what you’d anticipate from somebody together with his final identify. The 6’5” wing is an absolute slashing two-point scoring oriented participant, and he does one thing Brad Stevens famous as a degree of enchancment for the Celtics.
At his end-of-season press convention, Stevens emphasised the necessity for the Celtics to generate extra constant rim strain transferring ahead. “One of many issues that we’ve gotta work out is easy methods to have extra of an affect on the rim,” Stevens mentioned, later increasing on the purpose by asking, “I feel the largest factor is can we generate seems on the rim?”
One of many extra notable remarks from the session got here when he underscored the group’s offensive priorities, stating, “Each considered one of us would like a dunk over that, over a 3. Each single considered one of us. And we struggled to generate them.”
Stojakovic ranked within the 98th percentile in unassisted rim makes per 100 possessions final season at 5.4 taking pictures 66% from there. Moreover, he averaged 11 rim makes an attempt per 100 possessions, and over half of his general makes an attempt on the season come from there. Though he averaged seven much less minutes and 4 much less pictures than his earlier season at California, when he received his alternatives to slash, Illinois did a very good job of getting the ground spaced whether or not it was from the wing or a deliberate iso on the elbow.
38% of his possessions on offense noticed him driving to the rim, and he achieved 1.00 PPP (factors per possession) on that play sort. He’s not probably the most athletic man, however he reveals actual craft and dedication when driving that works most of the time. He loves to make use of the spin transfer when defenders handle to chop him off, or he feels majority of their momentum going a method. This driving skill additionally interprets to transition offense as he posted 1.38 PPP on the break. He additionally appears considerably snug within the mid-range space as he shot 45% from there.
As a shooter although, Andrej has struggled all three years of his collegiate profession. He’s at 30.5% on common in his campaigns and simply had his worst one from three taking pictures 24.4% on 2.5 makes an attempt. His launch isn’t the smoothest and is slower than you want to. Until he can rework his mechanics (completely doable), this nearly totally limits his skill as somebody who can create threes for himself and make them off the bounce. Additionally, I don’t imagine his deal with is the very best, however it’s efficient for what he does.
On protection I do see him being a stable group and particular person defender. He routinely stays in entrance of the ball and has good instincts when peeling off to both one other offensive participant or to passing lanes. He didn’t put up nice defensive playmaking statistics final season (0.9 stl % + 1.9 blk %) however together with his pursuit and contests after screens I do see some shot blocking skill. In his 2024-2025 season with Cal, he posted a 3.6 blk proportion (1.2 a recreation) which ranked within the 96th percentile for his place.
It stays to be seen whether or not Andrej Stojakovic will in the end hear his identify known as on draft night time, however he has proven sufficient to warrant a more in-depth look in the course of the analysis course of from Boston.
Kashie Natt | 6’3” | Guard-Wing | Sam Houston St. | 23
10.8 pts | 8.2 rebs | 2.4 asts | 2 stls | 43/39/78 | 56 TS%
Kashie Natt is without doubt one of the most original gamers on this NBA Draft cycle. He began his collegiate profession on the JUCO degree enjoying at Southern Shreveport earlier than transferring and enjoying his subsequent three seasons at LSU Alexandria. He turned some heads together with his play there profitable NABC Participant of the 12 months and NAIA Nationwide Participant of the 12 months in the end resulting in his step up in division play.
The 6’3” Natt is a literal annoying gnat (in probably the most complimentary method doable) to each offense he performs. He’s a defensive menace and performs with an edge that just a few can match. Natt’s 4.2 stl % ranked within the prime 20 within the nation, tallying him as one of the vital disruptive gamers in school basketball. Properly, I suppose him profitable Convention USA Defensive Participant of the 12 months would do the trick additionally.
His athleticism helps him be that disruptive defender as he is without doubt one of the greatest vertical athletes within the Draft. He’s capable of stand up like a middle for some unbelievable blocks both on ball or assist aspect.
On the ball, his fast ft and anticipation make him top-of-the-line within the class. His fingers and instincts are absurd, and he flies round making performs from distances most can’t. His traits have me considering he may very well be actually worthwhile as a niche defender on the subsequent degree with these fingers, instincts, and vary.
Another excuse why he’s so distinctive is that he averaged 8.2(!) rebounds a recreation at 6’3” with 2.3 of these approaching the offensive glass which we all know the Celtics love. This previous season he posted a 23.6 defensive rebound proportion which I’m unsure a participant his top or shorter has accomplished in a very long time. He led all of Convention USA in defensive rebounds and double doubles. His play even translated versus greater ranges of competitors as he put up 16 factors, 11 rebounds, and two steals on Texas Tech who was #10 on the time.
Natt isn’t a ready-made offensive participant which I’ll talk about later, however he did shoot 39% from three 2.5 makes an attempt final season. His final 4 years have seen him hit 34.9% from behind the arc so there may be some degree of consistency with him as a shooter. This in fact might be pivotal to his worth on the subsequent degree as I imagine he can contribute on protection straight away.
Though I like the traits he has, Natt is just not an ideal participant. Defensively, the one concern I see is foul bother. His fiery temperament and blazing play type can often result in early fouls. That mentioned, the difficulty is probably not as pronounced on the NBA degree, the place he would play fewer minutes and have an extra foul to work with. On offense he isn’t a sophisticated participant. He can get loopy with the deal with generally which may result in turnovers. He solely averaged 1.2 turnovers final season, so I don’t see this being a giant situation.
As a playmaker, I don’t see him doing something extraordinary. When creating for himself he does have flashes of some on the ball pop particularly as a straight-line driver utilizing his athleticism to get to the lane. When he will get there although, he has to work on ending by way of contact and making rim reads for teammates. Aside from that, I can’t see him as of proper now being somebody you possibly can say constantly, “right here take the ball and create offense” and actually that’s okay.
Whereas Kashie Natt goes by way of the draft course of proper now, he did signal to switch to Oklahoma State subsequent season, that means it’s not set in stone if he comes out this yr. Whether or not it’s this yr or subsequent, I like the outlier traits Natt presents and can keep watch over him.
