Celtics Poised To Land National Champion Forward In New Mock Draft

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The Celtics are gearing up for the playoffs, and while the NBA draft shouldn't be their primary focus right now, it's still nice to consider which players could potentially bolster the team's lineup next season.

Now that the college basketball season has come to a close, it's a great time to take a look at which players' draft stocks took a hit and which ones soared during the NCAA tournament.

Yahoo Sports NBA Senior Analyst Kevin O'Connor published a mock draft on Tuesday, predicting that the Celtics will select Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. with the 27th pick.

"Michigan is filled with so much star power that Johnson is the guy who often gets overlooked nationally. He’s a 250-pound wrecking ball with surprisingly soft hands and the defensive IQ to guard 1 through 5 in a switch-heavy scheme," O'Connor wrote. "And he makes constant plays beyond the box score with bone-crushing screens, full-court sprints and high-IQ rotations that blow up the opponent’s action."

"The Celtics have targeted team-first guys like Johnson in recent years, so he’d fit the profile here after proving himself as the connective tissue of the best team in the country. He isn’t quite big enough to be a true center and not yet proven enough as a shooter to guarantee he spaces the floor. But the Celtics can be patient and are proving to have a strong developmental program to help resolve any concerns."

Johnson kicked off his college career playing at Illinois for one season before transferring to Michigan last offseason. During his time at Michigan, he averaged 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, helping the team clinch the national championship.

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