ESPN Breaking: Amari Williams picked by Orlando Magic, traded to Boston Celtics with No. 46 pick

ESPN Breaking: Amari Williams picked by Orlando Magic, traded to Boston Celtics with No. 46 pick

presented by Jeep boston Celtics make a selection amari Williams is the pick there the kid out of Kentucky a big old body there uh look this is a kid that we saw uh get after it for Kentucky he played 22 minutes a game he was a certainly a role player for them uh had some valuable minutes when you look at this for Boston does this make sense for them right now as uh they just traded away Drew Holiday Christophs Porzingis we’re at the point in the draft where I don’t have anyone on my board who I consider a definite NBA player meaning they’re going to be on a roster next year and given that scenario Amari Williams is a player who has the tools to be intriguing because he’s got size length mobility and ball skills because he can really handle and pass the basketball before he got to Kentucky he played at Drexel and prior to that he grew up in the United Kingdom where some say he was even a point guard so he can handle and pass the basketball the problem is he can’t shoot right now so he can move he can protect the rim and you can run some five out offense which Boston has liked to do so there’s enough thread there to pull and see if you can make something out of it which at this point in the draft is I think the best you’re going to do
yeah 10.9 points 8.5 rebounds in that final year of college he did five years of college basketball first at Drexel like you mentioned then at Kentucky uh 7 foot 76 wingspan he’s going to play drop coverage and play that well but when you get him out on the perimeter things can get a little difficult for him and like Fin said he’s a total non-shooting threat at this point in in his career and though we have seen some other bigs that we’ve said that about often it’s the 19-year-old or the 20-year-old this is a 23-year-old 5-year college player who still has shown no ability to stretch the floor at all so it’s reasonable to be skeptical he’ll ever be able to do that in any sort of meaningful way i
I will say this he’s got an opportunity they just traded Porzingis al Horford’s my age luke Cornett’s coming up i mean there’s there’s an opportunity there to go try and be a third string center maybe even a backup i
Is there a player that you would have taken differently here in this spot for Boston
there’s two players I in the end of the first round they took Hugo Gonzalez liam McNeely would have been the pick for me um and then early in the second they moved that pick now they got four second rounders but I thought there was a clear pro on the board and Ryan Kulkbrunner both of those players McNeely and Kulkbrer could have stepped in and been I believe rotation guys next year for a Celtics team that is having to shed contracts to get out of that second apron and all the penalties that go along with it so McNeely and Kulk Brener I I thought would have been a ideal scenario for the Celtics they opted to go with two more defensive oriented picks uh we’ll have to see how that goes and then um subsequent to the earlier pick that’s when Maxim Reno came off the bench if you’re Phil uh Boston rather in theory it have been awesome if he dropped to you but he was off the board by the time they selected at 46
all right so Amari Williams headed to the Boston Celtics boston has one more remaining selection for now 57th overall and of course any updates here throughout the night in the NBA draft as we get closer and closer to the finality of the NBA draft here as you take a look at the last five selections um Adam who is 47 here what what do we know about this this young man here from Serbia anything we got anything on this guy well this is going to be a pick that when you look at the Bucks they are totally depleted of young assets and they are trying to find somebody and so Marovic is a player who’s potentially going to be able to play multiple positions potentially going to be able to defend a little bit defend multiple positions and hopefully provide some spacing as they continue to be committed to building around Giannis but again at this point in the draft I don’t see any surefire NBA players so do they stash him do they let him keep continue to develop abroad do they bring him over here let him play summer league see if he can get into camp and maybe make make the team it’ll be interesting this is also a contract situation where you have to decide what type of deal you give him do you give him a two-way or do you let him go earn more money in Europe we’ll have continued updates throughout the night as the second round of the NBA draft continues here on CBS Sports HQ presented by Jeep two of the NBA draft on the clock presented by Jeep pakee Dermish here with 247 sports director of scouting Adam Finkelestelestein and CBS Sports College basketball insider Gary Parish and with the 34th selection the Charlotte Hornets take Ryan Kulkiner out of Kraton the big man was a force for the Blue Jays 107 dunks last season led division one a guy who can get to the bucket and a guy that’s going to defend well fourtime Big East defensive player of the year he is headed to the Charlotte Hornets and Adam they just traded away Mark Williams to the Suns now it’s like a plugandplay here your grade for this pick is what
i think this is a pretty clear A and it’s consistent with what the Hornets have done uh for the last 48 hours remember Liam McNeely I thought was the steel of the first round to get him late in that spot and now to get Ryan Caulk Brener early in the second round i thought Kbrunner was a first round caliber talent so the Hornets are cleaning up here caulk Brener is a drop coverage monster so he’s not going to have versatility in the way he plays pick and roll but because of his size his length his standing reach he’s going to clog the paint and be a constant deterrent just like we saw at Kraton really a master of verticality who doesn’t need to be a great leaper to protect the rim and let’s be honest Charlotte is going to need it because although they’ve drafted really well there are significant defensive questions also give him credit for two other things one he’s played in an advanced offensive playbook at Kraton he knows how to run good stuff and he can step right in and do it and secondly he’s durable and in Charlotte of all places that is a key key factor this is a big body that has proven he can stay healthy and that is critical in today’s NBA it is especially critical for the Hornets
yeah he’s already 23 years old he played 5 years of college basketball so he should be capable of a plug-and-play situation we need you on the court almost on night one 7 foot one the 76 wingspan 94 standing reach four-time Big East defensive player of the year think you said it exactly right i think some people hear defensive player of the year and they think “Oh wow he’s that versatile defensive big that we hear so much about.” This is not Victor Wimyama he is going to excel in drop coverage but when he does get switched on to smaller players he can get exploited in that situation but still we uh maybe got away from it in the height of the Warriors dynasty but we’re getting back to it now traditional centers matter big people matter um the Lakers tried to play in the playoffs without one and got destroyed the Oklahoma City just won a title starting two bigs they got away from that early in that series but eventually got back to it unique big pick people like Ryan Cochrrener i like Fink thought he was going to go in the first round if I’m Charlotte I’m thrilled he fell to this spot
yeah how about this class here for Charlotte i mean already I’m gonna say they’re a winner i mean Khan Canipella at four that was obviously a slam dunk you get uh you get Liam McNeely late you make that pick and then Seion James right before Ryan Kulk Brener these are nice pieces to get in the second round Adam
yeah Seion James is an NBA player and I don’t say that lightly to get two second round picks and and be confident that they are both NBA players is a win seion James uh embraces what it means to be a role player that’s why he went to Duke last year he came from Tain where he put up big numbers and he said “You know what i’m going to go play with Cooper Flag i know all the eyeballs of college basketball are going to be on me and I’m going to play the same role at Duke that I could conceivably play in the NBA so if I can prove that I can do it NBA scouts are going to pay attention.” And you know what that’s exactly what happened and it happened from the NBA franchise that just happens to be the closest to Duke and it’s a really smart approach that I think other people could learn from so often I think prospects believe I got to score 18 points per game i’ve got to lead somebody in scoring i’ve got to go get 30 my favorite stat fact from previous NBA drafts is that when Kentucky won a national championship under John Caliperry Anthony Davis and Michael Kilkus went first and second in the subsequent NBA draft they were fourth and fifth on that Kentucky team in shots per game trust me when I tell you NBA people are not looking for whether you can score 25 points per game because almost none of you are going to be asked to do that at the NBA level you’re going to be asked to play a very specific role can James proved he could do that at Duke and that is among the reasons he’s gone very early in the second round of this draft
and that’ll do it for the Charlotte Hornets what a draft class uh that they have here in 2025 their last pick Ryan Kulk Brener headed to the Charlotte Hornets as you take a look at their four selections in this NBA draft Khan Canipple out of Duke Liam McNeely from Yukon they got that in a trade uh with the Phoenix Suns in round one seion James at 33 followed by Ryan Culbrunner out of Kraton all four of those guys winners at the college level now trying to turn the Charlotte Hornets into a winner at the NBA level hello hello [Music] foreign [Music] speech foreign speech foreign speech all right [Music] foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech let me check it down i need another Want to come here you want something got that here

ESPN Breaking: Amari Williams picked by Orlando Magic, traded to Boston Celtics with No. 46 pick