On this day in Boston Celtics history, the 2001 NBA draft was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, and the Celtics took three players of note in the draft.
The first of the three was small forward Joe Johnson, taken with the 10th overall pick out of the University of Arkansas. The Little Rock native only had one incomplete season with the Celtics. He played in 48 total games and recorded an average of 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 43% overall from the field in that stretch with the team.
In February of his inaugural season in the league, he would be dealt with Randy Brown, Milt Palacio, and draft assets to the Phoenix Suns for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers.
Boston took another small forward in that draft, selecting Kedrick Brown out of Okaloosa-Walton Community College (now Northwest Florida State College) with the 11th overall pick.
Brown would play three seasons with the Celtics between 2001 and 2003 and would average 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game over that stretch.
In 2003, he would be traded with Tony Battie and Eric Williams to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, Michael Stewart, and draft considerations.
Joseph Forte, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard out of the University of North Carolina, was the third selection, taken with the 21st overall pick of the draft.
Forte played just eight games with the Celtics, logging 0.8 points and as many boards and assists per game. At the end of his rookie season, he would be dealt with Kenny Anderson and Vitaly Potapenko to the Seattle SuperSonics for Vin Baker and Shammond Williams.
It is also the date of the 1990 NBA draft, held at the Felt Forum in New York City, New York.
In this draft, Boston took just one player of note, point guard Dee Brown out of Jacksonville University.
Brown is famous for his dunk contest win in his rookie year, would also make the All-Rookie First Team, and played eight seasons with the Celtics, putting up 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
He would be traded with Chauncey Billups, Roy Rogers, and John Thomas to the Toronto Raptors for Kenny Anderson, Popeye Jones, and Žan Tabak in 1998.
The 1989 NBA draft was also held on this date, also held at the Felt Forum in New York City, New York. The Celtics took two players of note, the first of which was small forward Michael Smith of Brigham Young University, selected with the 13th overall pick.
He would play two seasons for Boston before being waived, averaging 4.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
The Celtics also took big man Dino Radja from Yugoslavia despite his having a contract with the local team Jugoplastika. He would be bought out after a protracted legal fight and play with an Italian team, before playing for Boston for four seasons.
Radja averaged 16.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game while with the franchise, falling out with new coach and team president Rick Pitino and returning to Europe in 1997.
Finally, it was on this day in 1983 that point guard Dennis Johnson was traded to the Celtics for Rick Robey and draft assets from the Phoenix Suns.
Johnson would win two of his three championships with Boston, be nominated to an All-Star team (1985), and four All-Defensive Teams with the Celtics. He averaged 12.6 points, 3.2 boards, and 6.4 assists over seven seasons with Boston.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
[lawrence-auto-related count=1 category=590969556]
Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire