Two More Names Boston Should Know Before Pick 27

Once again, I called on an expert to help prep for the upcoming draft...

With the draft getting closer by the day, I wanted to continue looking at potential options for the Celtics at or around the 27th pick. In order to do so, I reached out to Nathan Grubel of No Ceilings, in order to get some expert insight.

What follows is a transcript of a back-and-forth conversation between Nathan and me.

Adam: Hey Nathan,

This year’s draft class looks super deep. There appears to be a lot of role-playing talent that will hover around the end of the first round, and potentially into the start of the second.

With the Boston Celtics owning the 27th pick, and clear needs at both guard and center, how confident are you that they can find someone capable of eating some playing time from the jump? Or, am I being too optimistic here?

Nathan: So the good news is this 2026 NBA Draft class has experienced talent at the back end of the first round throughout the second primarily because of the impact of NIL on college basketball. Normally, this would be an excellent area of the draft to take a player and either stash them in your G League system, OR stash them overseas to further develop and round out their skill sets.

A lot of those players have chosen to cash in on larger paydays going back to school, or those INT players are actually coming stateside to play college basketball. So this portion of the draft is filled with seniors laden with experience playing in high-leverage college games.

While they may not possess the same developmental runway as guys who are 2-3 years younger than them, they do have some polished traits to lean on that can complement the back end of a rotation in the NBA. This draft class, in general, is loaded with guards and has some forwards/bigs who can complement how Boston wants to play and what the Celtics generally look for in talent. I love asking those who cover their teams what they’re looking for in players, not just position but by skill set, and offering recommendations as to who might be available in specific ranges!

Adam, what do you think the Celtics need out of guards and bigs at the tail end of the bench? What types of players fit Joe Mazz and could catch their attention as far as fighting for a rotation spot? I’m confident I can offer up some great names in the 25-40 range?

Guards

Adam: That is good news!

Let’s do this in two parts! First, they need a guard…

I think the Celtics would need a guard capable of absorbing some playmaking minutes, likely in the non-Tatum minutes. Someone who can take a little PnR creation off of Jaylen Brown’s shoulders, can attack and create off the bounce, and of course, hit a respectable clip from deep.

Nathan: From a lead guard perspective, Boston would likely have to trade up into the Top 20 to feel great about securing that type of player with higher-end talent/upside; however, I do know one particular player that could fill that void in the late first of this draft: Richie Saunders.

Saunders is roughly 6’6” in shoes, has a decent wingspan, is sharp at making decisions on the court, and can flat out shoot it off the catch. He’s an experienced player that’s seen a lot in college, and took on higher usage roles alongside AJ Dybantsa when that BYU team needed a bucket pre-injury. Now he did suffer an ACL injury later in the season, so his immediate availability for the start of the 2026-27 season is in question. But after a “redshirt” stint, he could be exactly what Boston needs more of off the bench.

You can trust him to pass and find the open man, and he relocates incredibly well for open threes. Not to mention, he can actually attack a closeout and make a play off it, which is critical to offensive success in today’s NBA.

Adam: Ok, you’ve got me interested. I think I would pause due to the injury, and not having seen how his recovery is going or what impact it could have on his long-term development. However, when you’re picking this late in the first, taking swings at potential upside for a steal isn’t the worst-case strategy.

My only issue is that upside swings haven’t been Stevens’ strategy so far. He seems to prefer a guy with a higher floor.

One guy who has interested me is Sergio De Larrea - do you have any thoughts on him? His potential to be around at 27?

Nathan: Sergio De Larrea is a fascinating prospect, primarily because he’s one of the few mystery boxes we have from overseas in the class. A lot of the INT crop of players are electing to come spend not one, but even multiple seasons in college due to the NIL impact on the basketball landscape.

So getting a player like De Larrea to add intrigue in the first round is awesome to see for depth purposes. Not many 6’7” ball handlers are available later in the first round, but there are some questions about how dynamic of a scorer De Larrea is with the ball in his hands. Is he shifty enough to consistently break down NBA defenders? Is he a PG at the next level?

Or is he in the mold of Egor Demin, in the sense of a wicked passer, but better in an off-ball context? De Larrea isn’t the shooter of Demin, but he is a smart cutter and off-ball mover who isn’t afraid of contact. I think he’d be a dream type of player to get into Boston’s developmental program and roll the dice with.

All signs indicate him being an option for Boston at 27, but I also find it hard to believe that a team like the Toronto Raptors, for example, wouldn’t take a look at him with No. 19 given that team’s propensity for finding positional size that can also handle the ball.

Centers

Adam: They also need a big man…

I’m of the opinion that defensive versatility is something missing in the big man rotation now. Neemias Queta and Luka Garza are straight-up drop defenders.

Finding someone who can provide optionality on that end, either as a switch-everything, or a broader up-to-touch system, would help give the team an overall curveball.

Mazzulla has also been great at utilizing non-shooting bigs as screening and hand-off hubs, primarily as a weakside x5.

Nathan: As for centers, this player isn’t a true center, but what you are looking for sounds exactly like Zuby Ejiofor from St. John’s, who is one of my favorite players in the entire class. He’s about 6’9” in shoes, with a 7’2” wingspan, weighing in at 245 pounds.

Ejiofor is a physical post player who rarely gets backed down on defense, yet possesses the foot speed and lateral mobility to actually go out and guard opposing perimeter players from the three-point line, and even out past that in pressure situations. St. John’s used Zuby in a variety of ways on defense, primarily through switching/trapping and even playing some full-court defense at times.

He’s the type of player who could offer something Boston doesn’t really have from a big standpoint defensively, with some ball-handling chops to complement how the Celtics play on offense. He can catch the ball on a short roll, and redirect traffic as needed. If Ejiofor is able to be screened into a mismatch, he can make opposing defenses play and draw fouls at an incredibly high rate for a player of his archetype.

The shooting is his swing skill, as it is for a lot of prospects entering the league, but there’s been no better developmental system over the last few years than in Boston, so I’m confident they could work with a player who’s shown more willingness to shoot it as his career has gone on.

Adam: You’ve kind of sold me on Zuby Ejiofor to be honest. He sounds like exactly what I would be looking for in trying to plug a gap in the big man rotation. If he can elevate the second-unit’s defense, and operate in the five-out system without being a net negative (screening, hand-offs, etc are perfect) then I think there’s a pathway to some playing time for him next season.

Now, he’s not going to get immediate run. Mazzulla will make him earn it, but a versatile defender down low is a clear need since losing Al Horford last summer. I’d be all in on him if he was available when the Celtics were on the clock.

That swings the question back to you... Do you see him falling into their range?

Nathan: My board has Zuby Ejiofor in a range that’s right there for the Boston Celtics to take advantage of. I do think he comes off the board somewhere in the 20’s, but it’s much easier for the Celtics to maybe move up a few spots vs. trying to go up significantly higher into the teens.

So if this front office is sold on Ejiofor, I do see a pathway that’s realistic to acquiring him in this draft.

Potential for a trade

Nathan: Boston has been known to trade out of the first to acquire future assets. There’s smoke of moving up, but do you think it’s more likely they trade back than forward in this draft? Where are you at with Boston in terms of sticking at 27/40, packaging picks to move up, or trading back to get even more second-round capital?

Adam: I think a lot depends on what else Stevens is looking to do this summer. If he doesn’t see value for a position of need in the draft, then trading his picks could make sense - assuming it’s to strike deals around the league.

Otherwise, I’d assume he pushes ahead with what he’s got or targets a slightly higher pick. I’m kind of leaning toward him being active in the draft due to the Celtics wanting to stay out of the luxury tax this season to cleanse the repeater tax. Adding a young, hopefully impactful rookie - along with a two-way prospect in the 2nd round- should help them do just that.

Wrapping Up

Adam: This about wraps it up, Nathan.

FWIW, I’m super intrigued by De Larrea. BUT, I think you’ve totally sold me on Zuby, and he’s the guy I’m going to root for the team to draft next week. Of course, either De Larrea or Zuby would be fantastic...You just never know what curveballs are going to come your way…

Side note: If you’re not already subscribed to No Ceilings, you should be. They’re the gold standard of draft content. Furthermore, they’re proof that Substack can be successfully built from the ground up. I aspire to reach their level someday. I’m also incredibly grateful to Nathan for his time and willingness to do this!