Boston Celtics Take Louisville Guard Terry Rozier in 1st Round of NBA Draft

The Boston Celtics made a surprise pick in the first round of the NBA draft Thursday night when they took guard Terry Rozier from Louisville with the 16th pick.

At 6-feet-1 and 190 pounds, Rozier lacks bulk like several of Boston's other guards, including 6-3 Avery Bradley and 5-9 Isaiah Thomas. Rozier averaged 17.1 points per game as a sophomore last season but hit only 41 percent of his shots.

Rozier moved to point guard late in the season after Chris Jones was dismissed from the team. Rozier helped the Cardinals to the Elite Eight, where they lost in overtime to Michigan State.

The Celtics had been expected to go for a frontcourt player and 6-foot-11 Bobby Portis of Arkansas was available. He's a good outside shooter but wouldn't provide the defensive presence inside that the Celtics lack.

But they could get that later in the draft.

They have the 28th choice in the first round and two second-round picks - the 33rd and 45th overall.

The Celtics have stockpiled draft picks. From 2015-18 they have a potential 21 choices, 10 of them in the first round.

Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had plenty of draft choices to include in a trade to move up in Thursday's draft. But few of Boston's current players seemed attractive as part of a package that would get the Celtics into one of the 14 lottery spots.

They missed out on the draft lottery when they finished with a surprising 40-42 record and got the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They were swept 4-0 in the opening playoff round by the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

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