2015 NBA Draft — It took two years, but the trade that sent Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013 has finally come full circle, with the Boston Celtics selecting Georgia State wing R.J. Hunter with the 28th overall pick.
Boston gets RJ Hunter w/ Clippers' pick -- LAC sent pick to Boston for Doc Rivers.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) June 26, 2015
With many predicting Hunter to be a player who can come off the board in the teens, this is a good value pick for Danny Ainge — if it had been the Clippers’ pick, it’d also be a nice selection; in Hunter’s final season at Georgia State, the wing averaged a career-high 19.7 points on a career-low 39% shooting (30% from three).
Sir Charles In Charge
Noted as a shooter coming into the draft, many believe hunter to be a better shooter than his percentages, drawing a connection to Hunter’s role in the offense compared to what he’d be asked to do through the first few years of his career — be a 3-and-D guy/spot-up shooter who can play off Boston’s guards and playmakers.
As far as the outcome of the 2013 Clippers-Celtics trade, feelings may be dependent on how one responds to Doc Rivers’ short tenure in Los Angeles as coach/team president/general manager. Given the direction both franchises were headed in two summers ago, declaring the transaction made between the Clippers and Celtics good for both parties seems fair — the Clippers got their proven coach, and one who could push DeAndre Jordan toward his ceiling and the Celtics got arguably the best young coach in Brad Stevens to oversee the ongoing rebuild (which took a step back this past season when they decided not to tank, making the playoffs as the 8-seed).
Bucks move Clippers’ 2017 first
While the Clippers haven’t inserted themselves into the 2015 NBA Draft, a future, former pick of theirs is on the move.
Announced by several insiders, the Milwaukee Bucks trade the Clippers’ 2017 first-round pick, acquired in last summers Jared Dudley deal, and a future second-round pick to the Toronto Raptors for playmaking point guard Greivis Vasquez.
Filling a need in Milwaukee, Vasquez will provide Jason Kidd another oversized guard, but one who can knock down outside shots (hit 37.9% of threes last year) as well as create for others in the halfcourt.
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