Rozier, Billups, Mercer, Kreklow, Hunter, Mickey drafted

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise took just one player of note in the 1979 NBA draft, held in New York City at the Plaza Hotel, after having traded away their first-round draft pick. The sole player selected by the Celtics that year was 6-foot-4 shooting guard Wayne Kreklow, taken with the 53rd overall pick in the draft’s third round (drafts went on much longer then than they do today).

A native of Neenah, Wisconsin, Kreklow had been playing college ball at Drake before being drafted by Boston. He did not initially make the team, not unusual for a prospect drafted so late. But, instead of being waived, he would play a season with the Maine Lumberjacks of the Continental Basketball Association (the equivalent of the G League in that era), where he averaged 9.6 points per game.

Kreklow would join the team for the 1980-81 season, helping to win a championship in a reserve role that saw him average 1.2 points over 25 games with the Celtics in his sole season with the franchise.

It is also the anniversary of the 1997 NBA draft, held in Charlotte Coliseum of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Celtics drafted three players of note after missing out on the top overall pick Tim Duncan, who was taken by the San Antonio Spurs.

With the third overall pick, Boston drafted guard Chauncey Billups out of Colorado but would see him traded before the end of his rookie season due to the impatience of head coach and team president Rick Pitino.

Dealt with Dee Brown, Roy Rogers, and John Thomas to the Toronto Raptors for Kenny Anderson, Popeye Jones, and Žan Tabak, Billups would record 11.1 points, 2.4 boards, 3.9 assists, and 1.3 steals over 51 games played with the Celtics.

Boston would select small forward Ron Mercer out of Kentucky, a previous player of Pitino at his last stop, with the sixth pick. Perhaps that connection caused the wing to stick around longer, with Mercer averaging 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and…