2016–17 Boston Celtics season


The 2016–17 Boston Celtics season was the 71st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association. The team obtained the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2008 when they won the NBA title. At 53–29, they finished with the lowest winning percentage of a No. 1 seed since the Detroit Pistons in 2007.
In the playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Chicago Bulls in the First Round in six games, advancing to the Semifinals, where they then defeated the Washington Wizards in seven games, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.
Isaiah Thomas was voted to play in the 2017 All-Star Game.
Following the season, Avery Bradley was traded to the Detroit Pistons, Kelly Olynyk signed with the Miami Heat and Thomas and Jae Crowder were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, ending the Isaiah Thomas era in Boston in exchange for Kyrie Irving.

Draft picks

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege / Club
13Jaylen BrownSFCalifornia
116Guerschon YabuselePF Rouen Métropole
123Ante ŽižićC Cibona Zagreb
231Deyonta DavisPF / CMichigan State
235Rade ZagoracSG / SF Mega Leks
245Demetrius JacksonPGNotre Dame
251Ben BentilPFProvidence
258Abdel NaderSFIowa State

The Boston Celtics hold a modern-day league record for most NBA draft picks held in the draft ever since the league modified the NBA draft to being only two rounds long with eight total draft picks. Their top selection was acquired by the Brooklyn Nets this season due to them not only holding the third-worst record in the season, but also having it as part of their payment for trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2013. Their middle first round selection, meanwhile, was recorded by the Dallas Mavericks trading it away to Boston in 2014 in order to acquire Rajon Rondo and Dwight Powell. The last first round selection they hold, though, is the one they got for having one of the best regular season records last season. Meanwhile, every second round selection for the Celtics this year was acquired via trade, although their own second round selection would be traded away to the Utah Jazz.
For the first round of the draft, the Celtics drafted Jaylen Brown from the University of California, Guerschon Yabusele from France, and Ante Žižić from Croatia. In the second round, however, Boston took the surprise lottery-level talent that was last remaining in the draft with Deyonta Davis from Michigan State University, Rade Zagorac from Serbia, Demetrius Jackson from the University of Notre Dame, the first ever Ghanaian taken for an NBA draft in Ben Bentil from Providence College, and the Egyptian Abdel Nader from Iowa State University. Deyonta Davis and Rade Zagorac would be the only players whose draft rights would be traded the night of the draft, as they would be going to the Memphis Grizzlies on draft night for a 2018 second round selection. Meanwhile, both Guerschon Yabusele and Ante Žižić would continue to remain overseas in China and Croatia respectively for one more season, with the rest of the players signing contracts with the team, save for Ben Bentil and Abdel Nader, with the latter heading off to the Maine Red Claws and the former travelling to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China before being a part of the Dallas Mavericks later on in the season.

Game log

Preseason

Standings

Division

Conference

Regular season

Roster

Playoffs

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Awards