Celtics Land ACC Star in Latest 2025 NBA Mock Draft

Will Boston nab this standout collegiate player?

Oct 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Ian Jackson (11) passes the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels guard Elliot Cadeau (3) defends in the first half at the Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics are off to another red-hot start to begin their 2024-25 season. The reigning champs are currently 18-4 on the year, behind only the 19-3 Cleveland Cavaliers for the best record across the entire league. Across a full 82-game regular season, Boston is on track to win 67 contests, which would represent an improvement over the club's 64-18 record in 2023-24, en route to its record-breaking 18th title.

Boston's greatness comes at a price, as the club's pricey top seven effectively has it capped out for the foreseeable future. Thus, it's imperative for team president Brad Stevens to hit on as many of his draft picks as possible. Because the Celtics' records have been so good recently, the team frequently selects late into the first round.

As of this writing, the team is set to select with the No. 29 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which in fairness is supposed to be quite stacked.

Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report predicts that Boston will select 6-foot-4 University of North Carolina Tar Heels freshman shooting guard Ian Jackson in next summer's impending draft.

"Ian Jackson has been productive in his bench role, averaging 21.0 points per 40 minutes," Wasserman writes. "His opportunities have been limited by Elliot Cadea, RJ Davis and Seth Trimble, but the freshman has been very aggressive looking for transition, slashing and three-point looks."

"His margin for error will remain small, particularly considering he's a 6'4" guard who offers minimal playmaking/passing," Wasserman adds. "However, he's executed at an admirable level so far with his driving and shotmaking. It just may take an injury or bad slump from one of the starters for Jackson to be able to play more and fully sell himself to scouts as an NBA scorer."

Funnily enough, the player comp Wasserman cooks up for Jackson is someone who was on the Celtics' roster to start the season, journeyman shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV. After being cut from Boston during the team's preseason, Walker is currently turning heads with his play for Lithuanian Basketball League club Žalgiris Kaunas, but he enjoyed a productive six-year NBA run, averaging 9.8 points on .422/.356/.795 shooting splits, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 steals through 322 career regular season NBA games (88 starts), while having some big playoff moments for the Los Angeles Lakers during their charmed run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals. Walker is surprisingly athletic for his size, and while not a knockdown shooter, can at least be counted on to make open jumpers. That's not bad production for a late first round pick.

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