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The Celtics wrapped up their 2026 NBA Draft picks by selecting St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell at 40th overall. That comes after picking Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr. at 27th in the first round earlier in the draft.
Both Cenac and Mitchell are raw prospects, but there are some good reasons why the C’s chose them to join the organization. They’re expected to play for the Celtics for Summer League next month to open their pro careers.

Here are four things to know about Mitchell as he joins the Celtics:
Celtics fans will immediately see from Mitchell’s highlights that he’s going to make plays. He’s long and rangy, which is a huge plus as a defender. He’ll also throw down some big dunks, especially if he’s able to get out in transition. Mitchell came in at 6-foot-7 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan during the combine. He’s the exact type of long wing the NBA covets even if the other skills aren’t quite refined yet.
“He became one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball,” C’s vice president Mike Zarren said. “He’s long, he can move and then the other thing we noticed this year that really grew was his passing skills on offense. He’s still a prospect. He’s got some work to do. And his athleticism and leaping abilities are really, really impressive, in addition to his defensive instincts.”

For all the exciting parts about Mitchell’s game, there’s a reason why he was a second-round pick. The shooting is the biggest hurdle going forward. He shot just 19.3% on 3-pointers throughout his four-year career, taking a total of 57 of them in college. The free-throw shooting is another concern at 48.8% over his four seasons. If Mitchell is going to become an NBA contributor, he’ll need to be more of an offensive threat.
“He can be successful even when he’s not shooting the ball, but he’ll get better at his shot,” Zarren said. “We don’t have any doubt about that. If you watch enough, you’ll see he’s got the ability to get better there. So, like any young player, there’s things to work on, that’s one for him. But we’re really excited about Dylan.”
The Celtics have known about Mitchell all the way back from his third collegiate game back on Nov. 16, 2022, against Gonzaga. Zarren said he was scouting that game to see multiple prospects and Mitchell stood out. His Longhorns blew out the Zags that night as Mitchell put up eight points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. (As a bonus, the Celtics drafted another player from that game, Gonzaga forward Anton Watson, 54th overall in 2024.) After seeing Mitchell at Texas, the Celtics have kept tabs on him for years and now he’s headed to Boston.

“He was really raw back then, but his athleticism stood out,” Zarren said. “It took him a few years to sort of grow from there. We followed him another year at Texas, and then Cincinnati, and then this past year at St. John’s. I don’t know if you guys know the coach there, but he can really coach, and I think Dylan sort of found more purpose there.”
Much like Cenac, who was a five-star recruit, Mitchell was a blue-chip prospect coming out of high school. He played for powerhouse Monteverde Academy in Florida, earning a top-10 ranking in the country, per 247Sports. Mitchell started his career at Texas for two seasons before transferring to Cincinnati for one year. He finished off his college career at St. John’s under coach Rick Pitino.

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