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Despite seeing his draft stock drop throughout the season, Romeo Langford still saw his name called early on Thursday evening as Langford was selected 14th overall by the Boston Celtics.
Sources: Boston is selecting Indiana's Romeo Langford with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2019
Last season, Langford averaged 16.5 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 27.2 percent from three-point range and 72.2 percent from the line. After being projected by ESPN’s Draft Express as a top-10 pick for much of the early part of the year, Langford’s struggles with the Hoosiers led to his stock dropping.
However, the guard still found himself drafted on Thursday, making him the first guard selected in the first round for the Hoosiers since Victor Oladipo and only the third since 2001 with Bracey Wright (2005) and Victor Oladipo (2008) being the other two.
In Boston, Langford will slot into a franchise that is imploding. The Celtics are expected to lose big-time impending free agents Al Horford and Kyrie Irving in the coming weeks. The positive is that he’ll join a group of young wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as well as fellow Indiana product Gordon Hayward.
Oh yeah, and Brad Stevens coaches there.
It’s a decent situation as the Celtics have had some success developing guards and wings in recent years. He won’t be expected to contribute from day one and won’t even start, taking loads of pressure of his shoulders. Of all the teams in the lottery, it’s likely the best situation he could have landed in.