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June 25, 1997 – Charlotte, North Carolina – The 1997 NBA Draft


New Boston Celtics President/Coach Rick Pitino and General Manager Chris Wallace were on the clock. A few weeks ago, the Boston Celtics had won big prize of the first pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. Everyone knew who they would pick, big man Tim Duncan from Wake Forest. Duncan had been College Basketball’s biggest star for two years and everyone felt he was a lock to be an All Star in the NBA for years to come.



Choosing Duncan was the easiest part of Pitino and Wallace’s job that day. The Celtics also owned the sixth pick in the draft (acquired from Dallas). Now Pitino and Wallace were arguing about who to take. A couple of highly touted prospects had fallen and Wallace wanted to pounce on them, however Pitino would win the argument.

With the sixth pick the Celtics selected High School Phenom Tracy McGrady. McGrady was a risk, and would take time to develop, but many (including Pitino) felt he had the makings of a future super star.



The NBA Draft Lottery picks for 1997:

1 Boston Tim Duncan
2 San Antonio Keith Van Horn
3 Philadelphia Ron Mercer
4 Vancouver Chauncey Billups
5 Denver Tony Battie
6 Boston Tracey McGrady
7 New Jersey Tim Thomas
8 Golden State Adonal Foyle
9 Toronto Tariq Abdul-Wahad
10 Milwaukee Danny Fortson
11 Sacramento Antonio Daniels.
12 Indiana Austin Croshere
13 Cleveland Derek Anderson
14 LA Clippers Maurice Taylor


In the second round, the Celtics had the 55th pick, they selected Australian guard CJ Bruton.



What Pitino and Wallace hoped, and what millions of Celtics fans hoped, was that Tim Duncan would be the foundation of a new Celtics dynasty, and that the team’s gruesome 1996-97 season (15-67) would become a distant memory.
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