R.J. Hunter wasn't expecting Celtics to pick him
The Boston Celtics selected R.J. Hunter with the 28th pick in the 2015 NBA draft, and there's a solid chance they received one of the night's best values.
But it almost never happened. Here's why Hunter was surprised the Celtics took him, even after stumbling from the lottery all the way down to the bottom of the first round, according to the Boston Herald's Chris Mason:
"Hunter was surprised when his name was called by the C’s in the first round. He’d gotten ill and had to cancel a predraft workout with the Celtics. 'I actually didn’t come in for a workout that I had scheduled, so my agent was like, ‘Oh, Danny Ainge isn’t going to like you for that,’ ' Hunter said. 'So, I was thinking, ‘Oh, that’s tough.’ When I got the pick, there was, like, a minute left on the clock, and I wasn’t expecting and got the call, and it was just perfect.'”
Hunter's skill-set is very similar to last year's first-round pick, James Young. Both are long and have a tremendous outside shot. It's unlikely Hunter winds up being a star, but in time he could definitely provide proper spacing in an elite offense.
Grabbing him at 28 (or, for Doc Rivers, since that's the pick Boston received from the Los Angeles Clippers two summers ago) was a very smart move.
(h/t: Boston Herald)
Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports
