NBA Lottery 2016: 5 reasons Celtics deserve to win No. 1 pick
By John Buhler
1. Danny Ainge will make the right decision at No. 1.
Even during their brief rebuild of the last four to five years, general manager Danny Ainge has kept a level head and has not let the losing get the best of him. He’s done a remarkable job of stockpiling draft picks and accumulating interesting trade pieces during this rebuilding process.
Of all the general managers that could end up winning the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery, Ainge is perhaps the best equipped to make the right decision with that No. 1 overall draft pick. Ainge is pragmatic enough to not pick on impulse and botch the No. 1 overall pick like many previous lottery winners have.
In a sea full of highly dysfunctional teams eyeing that No. 1 overall pick, Boston, along with maybe the Timberwolves, are the most intellectually competent front offices to use that selection appropriately. The Kings, the Lakers, and the 76ers just feel like teams that would butcher that No. 1 pick in the way that the Cavaliers did in 2013 and in 2014, picking Anthony Bennett and trading away Andrew Wiggins to Minnesota for Kevin Love.
There is a reason behind why some teams like Boston always win and teams like Sacramento and Minnesota haven’t made the Western Conference Playoffs in over a decade: Boston is just the smarter, better managed organization. When a team with that kind of stature in the front office has the opportunity to use a great draft pick, that organization will make the most of it. Expect Ainge to land a fantastic player wherever the Celtics land in the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery.
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