In easily the biggest surprise of the 2015 NBA Draft, Justise Winslow dropped right into the Miami Heat’s lap at No. 10 overall. The Duke star was expected to go to the New York Knicks 4th overall, but after they passed on him the next five teams on the clock followed suit.
Rather than talk about how much of a steal Winslow at the 10th spot is, and how he will be the perfect complement to (or maybe even replacement for) Heat superstar Dwayne Wade, I’d like to talk about how close Winslow was to wearing green and white instead of red and black.
According to multiple reports that have surfaced since the conclusion of the draft, the Boston Celtics made a tremendous—like stupidly tremendous—push to move up after the Knicks passed on Winslow. The team contacted every team from the Orlando Magic at No. 5 to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 9, increasing their offer as they went down the line.
By the time the C’s got to the Bees at 10th overall, the offer had reportedly risen to an insane six draft picks including four 1st round selections. Please do not let my beautifully placed rhyme take away from the stupidity of the Celtics’ offer. Or the fact that the Hornets said no.
That’s the most unbelievable part of this craziness—Charlotte turned down four 1st round draft picks over this season and the next few in order to draft Frank Kaminsky. By agreeing to the Celtics offer, the Hornets would have no only had their future draft picks but also the entire future of the Celtics franchise. But they said no. For Kaminsky. A player who will be a small role player off the bench at best. He’s basically Ryan Anderson except not as good of a shooter but a little more well-known.
“Maybe we were going too hard at it,” said Celtics President Danny Ainge after the draft. “There was a time when I thought, ‘Woah, this is getting a little out of control. We’re putting a lot of eggs in one young player’s basket.’”
Ya think? I guess that about sums it up.
Ironically, the Hornets are now the ones stuck with the burden of proof. If Kaminsky isn’t the next LeBron James, then they obviously made a bad deal by passing up the Celtics offer.
You can change the name, logo, and overall look of the team, but I guess they’ll always be the Bobcats on the inside.