The Celtics used their second pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on an explosive, albeit limited, wing prospect.<\/p>\n
Boston drafted 6-foot-8 St. John\u2019s forward Dillon Mitchell with the 40th overall pick Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Mitchell, a well-traveled 22-year-old who played two seasons at Texas, one at Cincinnati and one with Rick Pitino\u2019s Red Storm, is regarded as a high-end defender and explosive at-the-rim finisher. Scouting reports also praise his athleticism, motor, rebounding and passing.<\/p>\n
Those traits made Mitchell a consensus top-five recruit out of Montverde (Fla.) Academy in 2022, and he first impressed the Celtics brass early in his freshman season, when vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren attended a Gonzaga-Texas game.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstantly, Dillon\u2019s leaping ability almost quite literally jumped off the court,\u201d Zarren said in a post-draft video conference. \u201cHe had a great game. He was really raw back then, but his athleticism stood out. It took him a few years to sort of grow from there. \u2026 He became one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball. He\u2019s long, he can move, and then the other thing we noticed this year that really grew was his passing skills on offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still a prospect, he\u2019s got some work to do, and his athleticism and leaping abilities are really, really impressive, in addition to his defensive instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing Mitchell did not do well across his various college stops, however, was shoot. He went 11-for-57 from 3-point range in his collegiate career (19.3%), including a 1-for-15 showing during his senior campaign, and nearly all of his 2-point production came at or near the rim. He also shot an ugly 48.8% from the foul line in college, never topping 60% in any season.<\/p>\n
The Celtics have been in the market for players who can provide more interior scoring \u2014 that was one of Brad Stevens\u2019 stated priorities<\/a> during his end-of-season news conference \u2014 and they love aggressive, ball-hawking, pain-to-play-against defenders. But Mitchell\u2019s skill set seems, on the surface, like an awkward fit for head coach Joe Mazzulla\u2019s 3-point-heavy system.<\/p>\n Most of Boston\u2019s depth wings this season were at least capable perimeter shooters, with Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez all making more than 36% of their threes. The Celtics could be hoping to coax similar improvement out of Mitchell to what they\u2019ve seen from Walsh, another defense-first player whose 3-point shooting percentage jumped by more than 10 points (to 38.4%) in his third year in the NBA.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can be successful even when he\u2019s not shooting the ball, but he\u2019ll get better at his shot. We don\u2019t have any doubt about that,\u201d Zarren said. \u201cIf you watch enough, you\u2019ll see he\u2019s got the ability to get better there. So, like any young player, there\u2019s things to work on; that\u2019s one for him. But we\u2019re really excited about Dillon.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitchell averaged 28.1 minutes, 8.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks across 37 games this season, starting 25 of them. His St. John\u2019s team won the Big East tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to Duke. Mitchell\u2019s lone made 3-pointer of the season came in that NCAA tournament defeat.<\/p>\n ESPN ranked Mitchell as the 40th-best prospect in this class, matching his ultimate draft slot. He was 39th on The Ringer\u2019s big board<\/a> and 52nd on The Athletic\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got a hell of a future ahead of him,\u201d said Zarren, adding that Boston actually considered trading up for the Tampa, Fla., native early in the second round.<\/p>\n