Zolak & Bertrand: More Important Weekend For Celtics Or Bruins?
BOSTON (CBS) - With the NBA (tonight) and NHL (Friday & Saturday) Drafts being held this weekend, the Celtics and Bruins find themselves in the spotlight for similar reasons.
Danny Ainge's Boston Celtics are hoping to light some fireworks on draft night after failing to do so last year, as the president of basketball operations publicly expressed earlier this week that his team is trying to jump into the top 10. The C's are currently picking at No. 16 and No. 28 in the first round.
Marcus Smart, the team's first round (No. 6 overall) draft pick in 2014, has come up in trade rumors too.
Related: Austin Ainge Says 'We Will Be Active' On Draft Night
Meanwhile, their TD Garden arena mates are in the news as well.
The Boston Bruins are a team that's coming off a year in which they missed the playoffs. They have a new general manager, they've got a bad salary cap situation, they have a restricted free agent in Dougie Hamilton (who is at risk of multiple offer sheets around the league), their top-line left winger, Milan Lucic, is at the center of trade rumors, and there's been speculation that Boston is trying to trade up to get Arizona's third overall pick.
98.5 The Sports Hub's Marc Bertrand acknowledges that this is a big, important weekend for both the Celtics and Bruins, but he believes it's more important for the C's.
"If the Bruins don't have a big week, or their week doesn't go well, they're not a terrible bottom of the barrel hockey team. They will still be competing for a playoff spot. The Celtics? The Celtics need to start going in the other direction. They've accumulated a ton of picks. They need to start building and they need to start adding," Bertrand said on Thursday morning.
Listen below to hear Zolak's take: