The Boston Celtics decided to trade down in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Normally, that wouldn't loom particularly large.
This year, it looms as large as 7-foot-1 Charlotte Hornets rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner.
The Celtics held the No. 32 pick originally before trading it for multiple later seconds.
Kalkbrenner went off the board at pick 34 and already looks like a solid NBA player.
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Boston traded away Kristaps Porzingis this offseason and could've used someone like Kalkbrenner.
NBA teams may have overthought things on Kalkbrenner a bit. He was the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year four years in a row.
Bleacher Report listed the miss on Kalkbrenner as the offseason move the Celtics should regret the most.
"Once Boston decided it had to shed Kristaps Porziņģis and couldn't afford to bring back Luke Kornet, the franchise was confined to big man-shopping on a budget," B/R's Zach Buckley writes. "Still, the Shamrocks could've let a plug-and-play paint protector fall into their laps. The Celtics held the No. 32 pick, but wound up flipping it for two later seconds and two future seconds. That's good value in a vacuum, but they still could have strengthened their interior rotation by keeping that selection and spending it on Ryan Kalkbrenner, who went 34th overall. Granted, it will take more time to fully evaluate that decision, but all early indications are that the Creighton product could have handled significant minutes right away."
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Kalkbrenner is averaging 9.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. He's also making 81.2% of his shots from the floor.
Boston could've used that, for sure.
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