Celtics Draft Chris Cenac Jr. at No. 27 A Slide That Could Pay Off in Boston
The Celtics took Chris Cenac Jr. 27th overall after mocks had him going late teens. Here's why his slide could turn into a development win in Boston.
Celtics Select Chris Cenac Jr. With the 27th Overall Pick
The Boston Celtics selected Chris Cenac Jr. with the 27th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Cenac, a freshman out of Houston, becomes the latest addition to a Celtics roster that has leaned heavily on draft-and-develop strategy in recent years. Boston has since signed him to a rookie contract, formalizing his place in the organization's 2026 draft class.
The pick itself is straightforward Boston needed depth and upside on the wing/frontcourt, and Cenac was available when the Celtics were on the clock. What makes the selection worth a closer look isn't the pick number itself, but where scouts expected him to land before draft night.
Why Cenac's Slide From No. 19-20 to No. 27 Matters
Before the draft, Chris Cenac Jr. was widely projected in the mid-to-late first round. Several mock drafts had him going around No. 19 to No. 22 ESPN slotted him at No. 22 to Detroit, while other projections linked him to Toronto at No. 19 and Oklahoma City at No. 18. CBS Sports also listed him as a late-first-round prospect, and the Houston Chronicle noted that most mocks had him going in the late teens.
Instead, Cenac fell to No. 27, a gap of roughly seven to eight picks from his most common projections. Draft slides of that size usually spark questions about medicals, fit concerns, or simply a deeper class than expected at his position but regardless of the cause, the drop puts Cenac in an unusual spot: a player teams valued as a late-teens talent now entering the league with a late-first-round price tag and expectations attached to it.
Kelvin Sampson: 'He Can Develop There'
Cenac's former Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson didn't hesitate when asked about the landing spot. Sampson said Boston's culture and player-development infrastructure make it a strong fit, pointing directly to the front office and coaching staff. He called Brad Stevens and Joe Mazzulla "one of the best" combinations of basketball people he's seen, and said flatly that Cenac "can develop there."
Sampson also spoke to what Cenac brings to that development process. He praised Cenac's work ethic, attitude, and rebounding, noting that the freshman played every game, competed hard, and kept improving as the season went on — particularly in its final stretch. Perhaps most notably for a Celtics roster that lives and dies by floor spacing, Sampson predicted Cenac could grow into a 37–39% three-point shooter based on his shooting mechanics, adding that Boston's track record with role players and stretch bigs makes it an especially good match for that specific growth path.
What Comes Next for Cenac in Boston
The Celtics have built a reputation for turning late-first-round and second-round picks into legitimate rotation contributors, with names like Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Hugo González often cited as recent examples of that pipeline at work. Assistant coach Craig Luschenat has been singled out as a key figure in that individual skill development, and Walsh in particular is viewed as a success story from the 2023 class.
Cenac now joins fellow 2026 pick Dillon Mitchell as part of Boston's newest development group. What isn't yet clear — and what fans should watch for is Cenac's specific role heading into training camp, how quickly he's given real minutes, and whether the outside shot Sampson projected starts to show up in game reps. None of that is confirmed yet, but if Boston's system does what it's done for its recent draft classes, the gap between where Cenac was supposed to go and where he actually landed could end up being the least interesting number on his rookie-year resume.