Which eight players would the Celtics protect in a hypothetical NBA expansion draft? 

What do Pat Riley, Dell Curry, Muggsy Bogues, and Zaza Pachulia all have in common?

It’s kind of a motley crew, but all four players were selected in NBA expansion drafts. Riley was drafted in the 1970 draft, Curry and Bogues went second and sixth, respectively, in the 1988 draft, and Pachulia was drafted by the Bobcats in 2004. In other words, these players (among many others) were not one of the eight their original teams chose to protect, and upon being left unprotected, they were forced to join brand-new NBA franchises.

While the league hasn’t begun the formal process of exploring expansion franchises, we know it’s eventually coming, as Adam Silver confirmed last summer. Seattle and Las Vegas headline the list of cities that could potentially land their own teams, and while we’re likely a few years away from that officially…