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Celtics select Chris Cenac Jr. with 27th pick in NBA Draft
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- Celtics select Chris Cenac Jr. with 27th pick in NBA Draft
Celtics select Chris Cenac Jr. with 27th pick in NBA Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics waited patiently for their turn on Tuesday night, ultimately selecting Chris Cenac Jr. out of Houston with the 27th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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Cenac played in all 37 games for the Cougars as a freshman, starting all but one of them. He averaged 9.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Standing at 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, Cenac brings some much-needed size to Boston's frontcourt depth. The pick came one spot after the Spurs traded up to select UConn big man Tarris Reed Jr. at No. 26.
"Just a good young player, energetic, plays hard," Stevens said after making the pick. "Excellent athlete, long, fits a position of need. Some things that we were a little short on this year from an athletic perspective, I think with this size and his strength."
Stevens also said that Cenac playing for Kelvin Sampson's program at Houston was a plus.
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"He's been held to a high standard," Stevens said. "So I like that. And he will undoubtedly come here and be eager to jump into it."
Stevens said he watched Cenac in person several times last year.
"He didn't always play well," Stevens stated, "but I never walked out of the gym thinking he didn't play hard."
Cenac was a top-10 recruit in the country coming out of Link Academy in Missouri in 2025 and was a McDonald's All-American.
Playing both the four and the five, Cenac figures to do much of his work at, around, and above the rim. At 19 years old (he won't turn 20 until February), he still has room to grow physically.
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He did take 90 threes in his lone collegiate season, hitting them at a 33.3 percent clip while shooting 55.1 percent on two-point field goals and hitting 62.1 percent of his free throws.
The room to grow and need for development led to Cenac being available late in the first round. But the size and abilities already on display drew the Celtics to making this selection, even if Cenac may not be able to help fill the Celtics' needs in the paint right away as a rookie.
