addByline("Marc D'Amico","Celtics.com","Marc_DAmico");
NEW YORK – There was something to be read into regarding Jordan Mickey’s multiple pre-Draft workouts with the Boston Celtics.
They wanted him. And they got him.
The Celtics snagged Mickey with the 33rd overall pick during Thursday night’s NBA Draft. This is the second consecutive Draft during which Boston selected a player it worked out on multiple occasions. Last season, the C’s chose Marcus Smart sixth overall after he completed two workouts for the team.
Boston was put on the clock at 11:10 p.m. Thursday night. At that moment, the team’s front office breathed a collective sigh of relief that their guy was still available on the board.
“Mickey, we thought like many thought, would be gone by the time we picked at 33,” Brad Stevens said shortly after the selection. The coach later added, “We were really lucky to get Jordan.”
That luck has immediately bolstered Boston’s rim protection. The C’s have now added the NCAA’s reigning shot-block leader to their frontline.
Mickey swatted away an NCAA-leading 3.6 shots per game last season. His prowess was no fluke; he also blocked an average of 3.1 shots per game during his freshman season at LSU.
“Some guys fear that, ‘Oh, I might get dunked on,’” Mickey told Celtics.com shortly after he was selected. ”You just can’t fear that. It’s the game of basketball. You’re bound to get dunked on eventually. There’s a lot of timing that goes into it.”
Boston hasn’t had a player with that mentality and ability in quite some time, and that’s why it had targeted Mickey since the beginning of the Draft process.
Another possible reason that led to the C’s falling in love with Mickey? He brings a dimension to the game that is becoming more valuable each and every season: versatility.
“The game is changing,” the 6-foot-8 Mickey explained. “[Teams] are going smaller and [playing] small ball, as we saw with the Golden State Warriors. They went small… they didn’t have anybody on the floor above 6-8. So I feel I fit that mold.”
The Celtics clearly agree. Stevens told reporters that he thinks Mickey is “a versatile athlete.” Danny Ainge followed suit by tossing out this impressive compliment: “Jordan is a very good athlete … I think that he’s the best athlete now on our frontcourt.”
Boston was able to add such a talent via a second-round pick. That’s a heck of a win in the eyes of the team’s decision makers.
A win that we all should have expected after the Celtics snuck Mickey in for a second workout.