Celtics Clinch Playoff Spot, Will Officially Get Clippers' First-Round Pick

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics clinched a playoff spot with a road win in Cleveland on Tuesday night. Shortly after, they also secured a third pick in this summer's NBA Draft.

A few hours after the C's locked down their spot in the postseason, the L.A. Clippers did the same. Doc Rivers and company will now send their 2019 first-round pick to the Celtics, completing the famous "Jeff Green trade" from the 2016 season.

So for now, Danny Ainge will have at least three first-round selections at his disposal in June's draft. Boston has their own pick, the Sacramento Kings' first-round pick (unless the basketball gods really dislike Boston and this ends up being the No. 1 overall selection, then the Celts get the 76ers' pick) and the Clippers' non-lottery selection.

The Celtics are also due a first-round pick from the Memphis Grizzlies, which carries top-8 protection this year. Memphis is looking at a rebuild, so the Celtics are hoping that pick does not convey this year. But Memphis currently owns the eighth-worst record in the NBA and are going "reverse-tank" to close the season, hoping to send their pick to Boston this summer.

As for the playoffs, Boston remains in the five-seed in the Eastern Conference with seven games to go before the playoffs. They sit 1.5 games behind the Indiana Pacers with two more head-to-head matchups between the two before the playoffs, including Friday night in Boston. If the Celtics can take their final two matchups with the Pacers, they have a good chance at securing home-court advantage for the first-round of the playoffs.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.