2018 NBA Mock Draft: The lottery is done and the order is set
Chandler Hutchison. 27. player. 18. . G/F. Boise State
The big news this week out of Chicago before the combine even began was Hutchison opting out of the week’s training schedule, likely with a first-round promise in hand. There are a lot of teams desperate for wing depth, and Boston seems unlikely to be making promises to draft picks, but the fit remains excellent.
Until we know more about which teams showed interest in Hutchison leading up to the draft, I’m not going to make guesses as to where he lands. I just see Boston’s need to replace some of the playmaking and shooting they could lose from one of Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier this fall, and think Hutchison could fill in that gap. It’s easy to say the Celtics should take a guard, then, to replace one of those two players, but the reality is whoever the team keeps will join Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving in a backcourt rotation that has little room for another player.
That means Boston can keep adding on the wing, get even more flexible and adaptable when they play small, and hopefully develop Hutchison into a better ball-handler and shot creator over time. We won’t get to see his development at the combine, but Hutchison showed in four seasons at Boise State that he is a capable defender and shooter already, with explosive scoring upside.
Chandler Hutchison has withdrawn from the NBA Combine and canceled all workouts after receiving assurances he's found a "safe landing spot." It appears that he has secured a promise from a team drafting in the 20-30 range. Hutchison is currently slated #24 on the ESPN mock draft
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 16, 2018
We’ll see what happens over the next several weeks with this situation.