Celtics reportedly interviewed Cooper Flagg and another top draft prospect at combine
The Celtics hold the No. 28 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
As the Celtics turn to the offseason, they got ahead on some offseason work at the NBA Draft Combine this past week. In addition to scouting several prospects in the 2025 draft, the Celtics spoke with a handful of NBA hopefuls, including an interesting pair of players.
Duke forward Cooper Flagg and Texas guard Tre Johnson were among the prospects who interviewed with the Celtics during the combine in Chicago, Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin O’Connor reported.
While Boston expressing some interest in getting to know two of the top prospects might not be a bit of a surprise on its surface, O’Connor noted that teams can only interview up to 13 prospects at the combine. So, the fact that the Celtics interviewed two players who will almost certainly be taken before they’re on the clock with their first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft (No. 28) is a bit interesting.
“[Teams] rank the players that they most want to interview. This would be that they had Cooper Flagg, Tre Johnson, and guys like that ranked high to get the opportunity to get to interview them,” O’Connor said on his podcast, “The Kevin O’Connor Show.”
In the case of Flagg, the Celtics’ chances of somehow getting him in the 2025 NBA Draft are likely slim to none. The Mavericks are widely expected to take Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick after winning the draft lottery this past week.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped people from speculating whether the Mavericks would actually trade the pick after they surprisingly gave the Lakers Luka Doncic in February. Considering the Celtics’ lack of elite draft capital, they would almost certainly have to give up a player of Jaylen Brown’s caliber and potentially more to get the right to draft Flagg.
“Boston calls [Dallas GM] Nico [Harrison] and they offer Jaylen Brown. And how many first-round picks is it gonna take? … I just wonder if Dallas and their entire decision-making unit would listen,” O’Connor said.
Flagg, a native of Maine, has been touted as one of the top draft prospects in recent years. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game this past season, shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from distance to sweep the player of the year awards. He’s also a noted Celtics fan, previously saying that Jayson Tatum is the player he most models his game after.
As for Johnson, O’Connor thinks that he could be an obtainable player for the Celtics, depending on how much they want to retool this offseason.
“The Tre Johnson one, in particular, is interesting to me because he’s one of the best shooters in the draft, he’s going to go somewhere in the No. 4-9 range,” O’Connor said. “If Boston were to really tool this offseason … I just think it’s interesting that the Celtics made it a point to interview these guys.”
Johnson led the SEC in scoring this past season, averaging 19.9 points per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from deep. He also had 2.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game.
In ESPN’s first mock draft following the lottery, it had the Wizards taking Johnson with the sixth overall pick. In addition to the Mavericks, the Spurs (No. 2), 76ers (No. 3), and Rockets (No. 10) are among the handful of likely postseason hopefuls who have top-10 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The Celtics’ pick at No. 28 is their only first-round selection in this year’s draft. They also hold the 32nd overall pick.
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