21. Boston Celtics: 14 points
- 2004: Al Jefferson: 3 (1x 3rd team, 1.5x for pick outside of lottery)
- 2006: Rajon Rondo: 9 (4x all-star, 1x 3rd team, 1.5x for pick outside of lottery)
- 2014: Marcus Smart: 0.5
- 2016: Jaylen Brown: 0.5
- 2017: Jayson Tatum: 1 (1x all-star)
The Boston Celtics have really lived the best of both worlds as buyers and sellers over the last two decades. In the 2000s, they went with the Dallas model of cashing in picks for trades, culminating in the moves that brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to Boston for their first championship since 1986.
And then in the 2010s, like the guy in your fantasy football league who only negotiates with the worst owners who don’t actually watch the games, Danny Ainge called up the 30th ranked team on this list. And anyone who has ever played fantasy sports knows how that typically goes: Ainge offered a couple of big-name players who were past their prime, and in return took every valuable asset that the bad owner had to offer.
After using those assets to build up a new young core, the Celtics have gone back to being a buyer and are in contention again after signing Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker as free agents over the past few years.
Boston ranks 21st on this list, but just looking at their picks doesn’t do justice to how well they’ve manipulated the draft in their favor with trades over the past couple of decades. And once Tatum has a few more years under his belt I’d bet they rank a lot better than 21st.