That's the predicament the Boston Celtics will be facing in tonight's NBA Draft.

06/26/2002

BOSTON (AP) -- Don't expect tonight's NBA draft to improve the Boston Celtics after their first playoff season in seven years.

They have one pick in the two rounds, the 50th overall, after trading their first-rounder to Phoenix in a midseason deal that brought Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk.

Even when they were in the draft lottery the last six seasons, the Celtics' results were mixed, with only four of the 12 players they took since 1996 still on the team.

And players taken with the 50th pick usually don't contribute much. Portland had it last year and took center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje from Georgetown, who played in 33 games, averaging 1.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 7.4 minutes.

Starting in 1985, none of the 17 players drafted 50th or worse by the Celtics played for them. In 1984, they chose Rick Carlisle with the 70th choice, and he spent three seasons with Boston.

Boumtje Boumtje's output didn't differ much from the production of one of Boston's three first-round picks last year, and was better than that of another, who were both drafted earlier.

Kedrick Brown, taken 11th, averaged 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 8.4 minutes per game and played in 26 games. Joe Forte, chosen 21st, spent most of the season on the injured list and averaged 0.8 points and 4.9 minutes in 13 games.

The Celtics also drafted Joe Johnson with the 10th pick, but sent him to the Suns on Feb. 20 with Milt Palacio, Randy Brown and their first-round pick.

That trade did bring two players, particularly Rogers, who were instrumental in Boston reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 14 years.

But Rogers can become a free agent, and Delk's contributions were inconsistent.

Besides Kedrick Brown and Forte, the only other Celtics draft picks still on the team were sure shots. Antoine Walker was taken with the No. 6 choice in 1996, and Paul Pierce was chosen 10th -- although he was expected to go much higher -- in 1998.

The Celtics would have been in better shape tonight if they hadn't used the draft pick they obtained from Denver to select Brown last year. Boston could have exercised that pick in 2002 or 2003 instead, and the Nuggets have the fifth pick tonight.

But Brown, an athletic 21-year-old, still could develop into a productive forward.

And Celtics fans have some positive draft developments to look forward to, but they'll have to wait: Boston has two first-rounders next year.