Tag: 2015 NBA Draft

On this day: Rozier, Billups, Mercer, Kreklow, Hunter, Mickey drafted

On this day, the Boston Celtics drafted several players in multiple drafts, including Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, Ron Mercer, and Wayne Kreklow.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise took just one player of note in the 1979 NBA draft, held in New York City at the Plaza Hotel, after having traded away their first-round draft pick. The sole player selected by the Celtics that year was 6-foot-4 shooting guard Wayne Kreklow, taken with the 53rd overall pick in the draft’s third round (drafts went on much longer then than they do today).

A native of Neenah, Wisconsin, Kreklow had been playing college ball at Drake before being drafted by Boston. He did not initially make the team, not unusual for a prospect drafted so late. But, instead of being waived, he would play a season with the Maine Lumberjacks of the Continental Basketball Association (the equivalent of the G League in that era), where he averaged 9.6 points per game.

Kreklow would join the team for the 1980-81 season, helping to win a championship in a reserve role that saw him average 1.2 points over 25 games with the Celtics in his sole season with the franchise.

Former Celtic Terry Rozier jumps into the lottery in 2015 NBA redraft

‘A solid peak earlier in his career is what earned Terry Rozier his place in this re-draft,’ begins Scary Terry’s analysis.

“Scary” Terry Rozier did the Boston Celtics a solid as part of the deal that helped the club replace the void left by Kyrie Irving in free agency, which also lost them the player they drafted at No. 16 overall in the 2015 NBA draft. It was time for the onetime Louisville player to spread his wings, and he went on to carve a larger role with the Charlotte Hornets in the sign-and-trade.

Now, in a Hoops Hype redraft of the 2015 class put together by Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon, Rozier clocks in a full seven slots higher.

“A solid peak earlier in his career is what earned Terry Rozier his place in this re-draft, as nothing he has done over recent seasons warrants a Top 10 pick,” writes Hoops Hype in damningly faint praise.

“Rozier can score and create some but is too selfish of a player and not efficient enough to warrant his confidence on the basketball court.”

While that point of view might sting, it’s not entirely unwarranted, either.

And even if it might have bruised the ego of our beloved Scary Terry, we also think he wouldn’t have minded the pay raise that came with being a lottery pick.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

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