Celtics
The Celtics have the 28th and 32nd overall picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The NBA offseason will officially begin this week, marking the start of a summer that could potentially be a busy one for the Celtics.
The 2025 NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Round 1 will be held Wednesday night, while Round 2 will have its own day on Thursday.
Unlike the early years of Brad Stevens’s tenure as president of basketball operations, the Celtics will enter the draft with a pair of picks. They’ll pick near the end of the first round, holding the 28th overall selection. While they don’t own their second-round pick, the Celtics have the 32nd overall selection thanks to the Wizards.
As draft week is here, let’s take a look at who experts project the Celtics to select with their first-round pick.
ESPN: UNC G/F Drake Powell
With Jayson Tatum set to miss at least a good portion of the 2025-26 season, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo and Jonathan Givony believe that Powell can be an intriguing option for the Celtics, as they could allow him to grow into something greater beyond this upcoming season.
“Finding a wing like Powell, who’s capable of soaking up minutes, hopefully gaining some experience and perhaps emerging as capable of adding value in a year from now, would be a major win,” Givony wrote. “NBA teams like Powell’s feel for the game and long-term upside, especially his ability to guard everyone from point guards to power forwards while flying around to protect the rim, crash the glass and close out with purpose on the perimeter. He plays exceptionally hard, has tremendous mobility covering ground, rotating all over the floor — with the question being whether he’s an aggressive enough scorer or accurate enough shooter to hold his own on that end of the floor.”
Powell, 19, was a one-and-done player at North Carolina. The 6-foot-5 wing didn’t put up tremendous stats in his one year at Chapel Hill, recording 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. But, as Givony mentioned, his athleticism allowed him to record nearly 1.5 stocks (steals and blocks) per game, an impressive number considering that he only played 25.5 minutes per game.
Powell didn’t have much trouble shooting, either. He made 48.3 percent of his field goal attempts and 37.9 percent of his 3-pointers as a true freshman. But he only took 5.7 shots per game, so it’s a relatively small sample size.
With their second-round pick, ESPN has the Celtics drafting Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Kalkbrenner won four straight Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards at Creighton, averaging at least 2.5 blocks per game in three of those seasons
O’Connor also has the Celtics taking a player who is relatively raw, comparing Thiero to former Celtics standout Jae Crowder.
“Thiero is a slasher with a jacked frame and an explosive first step, but he has severe limitations on offense as a shooter,” O’Connor wrote. “If he’s able to figure out the shot, then his length and versatility would make him a classic 3-and-D role player. The Celtics have had good success at improving shooters, so he’d be a fair bet at this choice considering his other strengths are tailor made for their system.”
Thiero had a breakout junior season after following head coach John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas. The 6-6 forward averaged 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, showcasing athleticism along the perimeter. He also shot well from the field, making 54.5 percent of his shots, but only made 25.6 percent of his 3-pointers as he averaged 1.6 attempts per game. So, to O’Connor’s point, the Celtics would have their work cut out for them if they want to make Thiero a plus 3-point shooter.
As for the Celtics’ second-round pick, O’Connor has them taking Penn State big Yanic Konan Niederhauser. The 6-10 Konan Niederhauser emerged as one of the best centers in the Big Ten this past season after transferring to Penn State, averaging 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. He also shot 61.1 percent from the field.
CBS Sports’ David Cobb believes that Saraf, who just turned 19 in April, has some pretty high upside for a potential late-first-round pick, but thinks whoever drafts him will have to be pretty patient to see it come to fruition.
“Saraf is the type of crafty, on-ball playmaker who could annihilate the G League, but struggle with the NBA’s physicality and athleticism early. But if a franchise is willing to grant him a generous runway, the upside is tremendous,” Cobb wrote. “With great size and feel for the game, he has the ability to develop into a three-level scorer with the facilitating chops to run the show as either a starter or creator off the bench.”
Saraf’s stat line doesn’t look too impressive on the surface. He averaged 12.8 points and 4.6 assists per game, shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from deep in 16 games with Ulm in the EuroCup league. But his statline is a bit more respectable when you consider that he played against elder professionals and only averaged 24.4 minutes per game this past season. He also avereraged 1.3 steals per game, which the Celtics could use as they might lose Jrue Holiday this offseason.
The Ringer: Stanford big Maxime Raynaud
As the Celtics’ big man rotation looks uncertain for 2025-26, The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann believes that Raynaud could be a worthy selection for them to try and develop.
“The Celtics have recently had some success developing frontcourt players —Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta — and Raynaud could be the next one,” Kyle Mann wrote. “If he were a big who needed to learn to play through defenders’ chests and assert himself in the fray, I’d worry about him finding his way in the more physical NBA. But Raynaud was highly active both inside and outside the arc for Stanford this past season. If Boston found a way to sculpt a shot chart that smartly balances his ability to body a defender near the rim and pop out for a 3, Raynaud could become a contributor.”
Raynaud, measured at a smidge over 7 feet tall, was a force on both ends of the court for Stanford in his senior season this past year. He averaged 20.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game, helping him earn first-team All-ACCC honors.
As Kyle Mann alluded to, Raynaud’s also a pretty polished shooter for a big man. He shot a relatively respectable 34.7 percent from 3-point range on 5.5 attempts per game. He also shot 77 percent from the free-throw line, a sign that his shooting could translate to the next level.
Veceine also has the Celtics selecting Raynaud, believing his ability to dribble, pass, and shoot is a “strong fit” for the way the Celtics play.
“The key will be on defense, where Raynaud does not move particularly well and could be a liability in space,” Veceine wrote. “He had a terrific combine game in front of several NBA scouts, but some NBA executives in attendance pointed out that he played against the least-developed player in attendance in Croatian teenager Michael Ruzic.”
Raynaud does move relatively slower than some of his opponents in the highlights you watch of him. Still, he could be an option to play right away for the Celtics in 2025-26 if any of Al Horford, Luke Kornet, or Kristaps Porzingis depart Boston this offseason. Horford and Kornet are free agents, while Porzingis has been a rumored trade candidate.
As for the Celtics’ second-round pick, Veceine has them taking Marquette guard Kam Jones. The 6-3 guard was one of the best players in the nation this past season, averaging 19.2 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from deep.
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