The Celtics swung a pair of massive trades ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft, and by the sounds of it, they could still be active come Wednesday’s first round. Per Heavy’s Steve Bulpett, the Celtics are looking to trade up earlier in the draft with a specific eye on Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis.
The C’s currently hold the No. 28 and No. 32 overall pick in the draft. Jakucionis is expected to be picked somewhere in the lottery on many mock drafts, meaning the Celtics would need to trade up to grab the Lithuanian. There have been some murmurs that Boston could be interested in moving up, so the report isn’t a huge surprise.
Jakucionis starred at Illinois in his lone season, averaging 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 33 games. The Illini asked for Jakucionis to carry a significant load during his freshman season as he showcased his skills for NBA scouts. He’s got good size at 6-foot-6 and has a smoothness to his game.
The shooting is a question mark as he knocked down 31.8% on 3-pointers last season on 5.2 attempts, though there were a lot of tough looks for a shot-happy Illini team. The 84.5% shooting on his free throw attempts was a positive sign, though, as he could continue to develop that jumper.
The Celtics already made a pair of huge moves by trading Jrue Holiday to the Blazers late Monday then Kristaps Porzingis on Tuesday to the Hawks in a three-team trade. They acquired Anfernee Simons from Portland and Georges Niang from Atlanta. So the C’s have already been dealing and there’s a chance they continue to do so come draft night.
The C’s were bound to make significant changes this summer due to their salary cap situation. After the Holiday and Porzingis deals, they’re now below the second apron by about $4 million. But the Celtics will look to fill out the rest of their roster as they head into what’s looking like a potentially intriguing draft.