Celtics 'Aggressively Shopping' No. 3 Pick, Could Be In Play For Jimmy Butler
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics are busy working out prospects they could select with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft but new reports suggest that the team really wants to turn the pick into an established, difference-making player.
According to CSNNE's A. Sherrod Blakely, the Celtics are aggressively shopping the third overall pick in the draft to other teams in hopes of landing the caliber of player who could make a big impact in Boston right away.
"The guys that [the Celtics] want are the guys that everybody wants," said Blakely. "We're talking about [Kevin] Durant, we're talking about Jimmy Butler, those type of players. And those guys are going to be at the top of their wish list until those guys say, 'We don't want to come to Boston.'"
On Butler, ESPN's Marc Stein reported Monday night that the Minnesota Timberwolves, who currently hold the No. 5 pick in the draft, could be in play to trade the pick as part of a package for the Chicago Bulls swingman. The Wolves recently hired former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, who previously coached Butler in Chicago.
Stein says sources told him that the Bulls are "listening to pitches" for Butler and would "demand a significant amount in return" in a trade for him. The Celtics would certainly need to part with a player or two, and perhaps one of their bigger trade chips like Marcus Smart or Jae Crowder, in addition to the No. 3 pick, to have a chance at landing Butler on the team.
The Celtics reportedly tried to trade for Butler at the deadline, and point guard Isaiah Thomas appears to have been actively recruiting Butler to want to come to Boston.
LISTEN: Adam Jones & Rich Keefe discuss the Celtics' shopping of the No. 3 pick